Pokemon Adventures- Kanto Saga
by pikachu0727
Summary: Follows Aeris Blackwood's adventure in the Kanto region as he catches pokemons, meets new people, and takes on different challenges as he aims to become the Pokemon Master. The story follows a style similar to the anime except of one thing- There's a bit of romance.
1. Chapter 1- The Starter Trial

The Kanto region...

A wide and vast place located near the coast of the continent. About one-third of the country's citizens inhabit this region.

And among them, one thing is common.

And that is the bonds between people and Pokémon.

Whether it be the land, the sea, the mountains, or even under the ground, pokemon can be found anywhere.

People and pokemons have been living together and had coexisted for a very long time.

Some people befriend pokemon as their friends, others think of them as partners in life and work.

But there are some people that stand aside pokemons and work together to battle with others.

These people are called...

Pokemon Trainers.

* * *

"Go get 'em Jolteon!"

A tall, blonde woman throws a semi-red and semi-white ball with a button high up in the air.

The ball opens up and a red light splashes over a small area before it materializes into a four-legged fox with spikes on its back and it's coiled in yellow as lightning sparks start emitting from it.

"Jolt."

The trainer on the opposing end, a well-built man with black hair and moustache, smirks before revealing his own pokeball and throwing it high up in the air.

"Flareon, it's time to show 'em what we've got."

Ironically, the other pokemon was again, a foxy one. Except that this time, its fur was blazing res and there was a cream-colored mane around it's shoulders.

"Flare!"

A middle-aged man standing at the side of the stadium- clad in a yellow t-shirt and black shorts with a flag in his hand- raises the flag and swipes it down.

"Battle begin!"

A board on the large screen in the stadium lit up before the view of the battle in a landscape format shows up on it. Along with that, the words **'FLAREON VS JOLTEON'** was shown on the upper section of the screen.

Trumpets were blown and the blonde woman flicked her wrist before commanding her Jolteon.

"Jolteon, start with Discharge!"

Electricity started circulating around Jolteon's body and a great bit of it was continuously being concentrated on its spikes.

"JOLT!"

With a sharp and alarming cry, Jolteon discharged the gathered electricity and aimed it at the opposing pokemon.

"Use Protect, Flareon."

At the man's command, Flareon relaxed its body and its tail stood straight up before a turquoise like transparent barrier appeared in front of it.

The electricity from Jolteon ended hitting the barrier that Flareon had created. With no damage done, the electricity dispersed and the turquoise barrier disappeared.

"Flame Charge!" The man gave yet another command and Flareon revved up before charging towards Jolteon.

As it kept running, fire started building up from its mane and soon enough, Flareon was a burning fox that was running towards its opponent with great speed.

"Flare!"

"Hit them exactly as hard. Go Jolteon, Volt Tackle!"

It was as if Jolteon had mimicked its opponent's movements. Except this time, instead of fire, Jolteon was engulfed in electricity that it discharged from its body.

"Jolt!"

The spikes on Jolteon's back, and Flareon's mane stood straight up as both pokemon charged towards each other.

Noticeable, there was more electricity around Jolteon's body then the amount of flames around Flareon. However, Flareon's speed was increasing by the second, making it even more faster than before.

"JOOOOOL!"

"FLAAAARE!"

Both pokemons banged heads with each other at the final moment, creating smoke and sparks.

The heat of the battle was so much, that the trainers were simultaneously sweating.

However, the surrounding crowd around them showed no instances of tiredness as they jumped up from their seats and kept cheering on their favorite trainer from the stands.

But suddenly...

Everything went black.

A sigh could be heard as the focus was shifted towards a young man who was sitting on his bed with a remote control on his hand and a bored look on his face.

"Heck, this is so boring," he scoffed before flicking the remote from his left to right hand and placing it on the small table near his bed.

This man, Aeris Blackwood was a 14 year is old boy who was about to receive his first ever pokemon tomorrow from Professor Oak

Yet, ironically, he was pulling an all-nighter instead of going to sleep so he could wake up early.

And it didn't even look like that there was someone to put him to sleep.

Aeris's eyes fell on the small square-shaped clock on the wall and they immediately widened in surprise.

"Shit, I'll be so late tomorrow!"

Upon realizing his mistake, Aeris quickly shut off the lights and started covering himself up with the bedsheets before trying desperately to sleep.

But of course, sleep wouldn't come to him as like any other 14 year old, Aeris was very excited about receiving his first ever pokemon.

Somebody was finally going to come into his life. And lucky or not, that pokemon had to put up with him and his antics.

So with that thought in mind, Aeris finally found relief and fell drowsy before snores could be heard from the room, indicating that he was sound asleep.

* * *

Professor Oak was a very respected person in the Kanto region- or maybe even the whole world.

In Pallet Town- a remotely quiet village near the coasts of Kanto- the task of giving new trainers their first ever pokemon was entrusted to him.

His laboratory was a modern farm so to say. It had a windmill, and the research facility looked like a barn house. But of course, the hundreds of yards that stretched behind his backyard was filled with thousands and thousands of pokemons.

And today, the day had come yet again where he would be passing on to trainers their precious starter pokemons.

"Now then..."

The Professor sat up from his computer seat and straightened his back before he pulled up a drawer from a nearby cupboard. Inside, a lot of pokeballs were aligned in rows of three- each row in glass cases.

Professor Oak took the closest case and picked it up before closing the drawer and placing the glass case on his study table.

"Let's see what we have here."

The Professor pressed a button on the side of the box, and the glass casing opened up automatically before the three pokeballs were on display.

The old professor grinned like a young child- pokemons always made him enticed- before he picked up all the three pokeballs in one hand and threw them up in the air.

"Come on out, you three."

The three pokeballs open up to reveal the three pokemons that trainers will be able to chose from as starters.

The Professor smiled yet again before patting the first pokemon.

It was Squirtle, a turtle-like pokemon that had a turning tail and a brown shell along with a blue body.

Oak grabbed a can from the table and opened it before popping a few pokemon food into Squirtle's mouth, who began immediately chewing it.

"There, there, eat up you lot."

Professor Oak affectionately smiled and scratched Squirtle's chin before moving onto the next pokemon, a relatively shy Charmander.

Charmander was a lizard pokemon who, like Squirtle, stood up on its two legs. Its body was crimson colored except of its front where it was peach. Charmander's face was oval and there was a burning gleam to its eyes. Additionally, a small fire also inhibited its tail.

This time, instead of popping the pokemon food directly into Charmander's mouth, the Professor patiently took a few of the food and offered them to Charmander by showing his palm to it.

"Come on Charmander, eat up."

The Charmander waited for a few seconds, and looked the kind professor in the eye before slowly moving its mouth towards the front and chewing on the food.

Seeing Charmander slowly starting to eat its food, the Professor smiled in victory before moving onto the last and final pokemon, a Bulbasaur.

Bulbasaur was a small, dinosaur-like pokemon who had an un bloomed bulb on its back. Unlike the other two starters, it stood on its forelegs in a hunched position.

This time, instead of the professor offering food to it, vines appeared from Bulbasaur's back and snatched the can of food from the Professor before dumping all the food inside its own mouth.

The Professor sweatdropped at Bulbasaur's actions.

"Well, you sure were hungry, weren't you?"

"Professor Oak," someone called from behind and the Professor turned around to spot Harry, one of his assistants.

"Yes, Harry?"

"Um, Professor, the ceremony for the middle-schoolers receiving their starters is about to start."

"Oh yes, yes," the Professor said thoughtfully before quickly returning the starter pokemons in their pokeballs and putting them back into their cases. "We should hurry then. I'm sure the young ones are eager to meet their first ever pokemon."

* * *

"So, Sylvia, what will be your first pokemon?"

Meredith Blakey, the town's ever most cheery girl smiled at the silver-haired girl who was sitting on the table with an excited look on her face.

"That's a secret," Sylvia points out with a wink and Meredith huffs before crossing her arms.

"At least give me a hint."

"It's not one of the Professor's pokemon, but one from Kalos. I'll tell you that it's a cute one though."

Kalos was a region that was faraway from Kanto. It's nicknamed the Region of Love and the modernized city of Lumios attracts a lot of tourist for the region, besides the presumed love charm of course.

"Of course it has to be cute, I mean, it's you after all."

That was true. With graceful silver hair and majestic blue eyes, Sylvia was treated no less than a princess in Pallet Town. The boys fell at her feet and the girls admired her and strived to be her. So of course, her partner had to be someone of equal cuteness and charm.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sylvia pouted at Meredith, and before the latter could answer, the door of the classroom slid open and in came Aeris Blackwood with his black hair as messy as ever, and his grey eyes shining with minimum excitement, even though he was jumping up from the inside, though he'd never admit it.

"And here comes the ever gloomy child of Pallet. Honestly, he's so different from you, Sylvia," Meredith commented, and Sylvia denied her claims by waving her hands in front of her.

"Come on, everyone's different. And after all, he doesn't have his parents remember."

Meredith sighed before reluctantly agreeing with Sylvia. "I guess not having people to raise you _does_ make someone like that," she said, referring to Aeris who had quietly took up a seat in the corner of the classroom.

Sylvia and Meredith kept chatting for a few more moments. It was not until something or rather someone caught Meredith's eyes that she ended the endless conversation and nudged Sylvia's shoulders.

"And here comes the hottie of class 3-B," Meredith gestured before whistling.

Sylvia turned around to spot yet another out of the crowd person of Pallet. If Sylvia was treated like a Princess, then this person was treated like a Prince.

He was Stephan Goldberg, the golden boy of Pallet Town with as much golden hair as his golden reputation and brown eyes.

"Hi, Sylvia," Stephan greeted her upon meeting.

"Hi Stephan, what's up?"

"Nothing much," Stephan shrugged before a few guys snatched him from Sylvia and initiated a conversation with him.

"You guys should really start dating," Meredith suggested with a disappointed shake of her head.

"Oh, shut up! We're just friends!"

Meredith rolled her eyes before face palming the table.

"And most of the love stories start like that."

Meanwhile, Aeris was deep in thought as he kept his eyes trained outside the window, an everlasting looming expression on his face.

"These guys are so carefree," he muttered, and glanced at the classroom before shifting his view back to the window. "I wish I could be like them."

* * *

"Now then, it's time for you guys to receive your first ever pokemon," the teacher announced and everyone cheered with gleeful faces as the teacher nodded towards the window, gesturing for someone to come in. "You can come in, Professor Oak."

The classroom door slid open and the respected Professor of Pallet Town stepped inside and smiled at all the eager students.

"Hello everyone, I'm Professor Oak."

While most of the kids cheered, a single boy stood out from the crowd and said something that made the whole class laugh out hysterically.

"We all know, gramps, we see you in TV everyday 'ya know?"

Professor Oak sweatdropped at his own grandson while the teacher glared at the student.

"Gary, behave!" she ordered coldly and Gary gulped before saying a quick 'sorry'.

Like Stephan and Sylvia, Gary was equally regarded like royalty in Pallet. Being the Professor's grandson, he was regarded as a prodigal child who'd surpass others as a pokemon trainer.

Unlike most though, he didn't regard Aeris as a gloomy orphan, but instead, befriended him and regards him as rivals.

Appearance wise, Gary had spiked mahogany hair and olive eyes. He was tall, and was pretty popular among the general female. However, he was more of the laid back type then the cool and serious guys that girls usually fell for.

"Now, if that's settled," the Professor said, and sighed before regaining his smile and presenting a box with a glass case on the teacher's desk. "Today, all of you will visit my laboratory and select your starters from this set of three pokemon."

The pokemon grabbed the three pokeballs and pressed their buttons before Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle appeared before everyone. The 14 year old children were beaming with delight.

"This is Bulbasaur, the Grass and Poison type pokemon," he said and introduced Bulbasaur who gave everyone a little show by playing with its vines. Many of the students were enchanted by its vine play.

"Then here, is the Fire type pokemon, Charmander." At the Professor's instruction, the relatively shy pokemon emitted a small fire from its mouth. Some of the kids were enchanted by its fire.

"And last but not least, the Water type pokemon, Squirtle." Squirtle impressed everyone retracting into its shell before coming back out in a matter of seconds.

"So there you have it everyone. These are the three starter pokemons that you could choose from- Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander. Be sure to chose wisely who you'll be selecting, as one of these pokemons will be the one to decide your fate."

The middle-schoolers roared in delight as Professor Oak smiled at the enthusiastic trainers and went on to give a few more description about pokemons and some tips about when they would start their journey.

"Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle, huh?" Aeris muttered as a thoughtful expression appeared on his face. "I'll have to chose carefully since one of them will be my first pokemon."

* * *

Professor Oak's backyard was as big as one would expect of it to be. Lying on the edge of Pallet, his research facility expanded to a part of Pallet Woodlands and had every kind of habitat for every kind of pokemon.

"Alright everyone, here you have it. All the pokemons that trainers from Pallet Town have caught are all here. Why don't take a stroll around and see them while we ready the pokemons?"

"Alright Professor," everyone said in unison as the Professor nodded his head with a smile before walking towards his laboratory.

"So, Aeris, have you decided which pokemon you're gonna get?" Gary asked thoughtfully.

"Not really," Aeris shook his head in reply. "I'm not really sure which one to chose. They all look pretty strong to me."

"Oh well, make your choice quickly though," Gary advised him. "I already know which one I'm picking, it'd be a bummer if you ended up not getting one because you were confused."

"You don't have to worry," Aeris said with a triggered expression. "I'll figure something out."

"Of course you will," Gary crossed his arms and said tauntingly while the former glared at him.

"Hey, watch out, there's a pokemon over there that's running wild," a student said and warned everyone.

Aeris tilted his head in confusion and asked Gary about it. "A pokemon running wild? Now, that's new."

"Why don't we check it out, Ar?"

Aeris thought about the suggestion for a moment before agreeing with Gary. Well, anything could be done to pass time.

"I guess, we could."

* * *

When Aeris and Gary arrived at the site where the supposed wild pokemon was, they saw several people lined up near a part of the lake where water type pokemons were.

After passing through them, Aeris and Gary saw a small, yellow rodent, who was shocking and zapping a bunch of bull-like pokemons, namely Tauros, whenever they came near to it.

"What's up with that pokemon?"

Murmuring started from the crowd.

"That pokemon is weird. Why is it attacking the others?" Meredith asked Sylvia.

Sylvia narrowed her eyes at the yellow rodent and realized something- it was standing near a tree that had a hole in it.

"It seems like it's guarding something."

"Huh? Guarding something? Well, I don't see anything."

"You see that Gary," Aeris asked his only friend. "That pokemon is trying to stop those Tauros from getting near what's inside that tree."

"I do see that, but what's inside that tree anyway?"

Gary's question was answered when a small caterpillar crawled out from the hole in the bark.

"Look, it's a Catterpie," someone said from the crowd.

Upon seeing the small, caterpillar like pokemon, the Tauros' temper flared.

One of them tried to get near it, but as soon as it was on the rodent's radar, the Pokemon chanted something before releasing electrical discharges from its body.

"Pikapika Pikachu!"

The Tauros took severe damage and its eyes rolled to the back of its head before the rodent's attack died down.

"Tauuuuuuuu!"

The crowd were whispering about the rodent pokemon. Something like how it was 'wild', 'untamable', and 'crazy'.

Aeris realized that although the yellow pokemon was hearing all of that, it paid the others no heed as it stood firm to protect the Catterpie from the Tauros.

A few more charges from the Tauros were resumed. The rodent ended up electrifying all of them. However, when they 5th one charged at it, it was enough tired and was late to respond to the attack. Thus, getting hit by the Tauros as its body flung from the grounded and landed on the water of the lake.

Everyone's eyes widened open as the electric rodent tried desperately to swim back to the surface. However, no one stepped up to help.

"Pikapika! Pikachu!"

"That pokemon," Aeris exclaimed, taking a few steps forward. "At this rate, it'll drown in the water."

To everyone's shock, Aeris dashed towards the lake and quickly dived down on the water before swimming towards the sinking pokemon.

While the others stood rooted on their spot with open eyes, Aeris reached towards the helpless pokemon and rescued it before swimming back to the surface with the rodent in its arms.

Gary was the first one to get to the panting Aeris and the rodent that had its eyes closed while taking deep, rushed breathes.

"Quick Gary, take it towards the Professor," Aeris said and hurriedly handed the mouse over to Gary while his feet were still underwater and his clothes soaking wet.

Gary immediately nodded at him and picked up the pokemon before quickly running towards the direction of the Professor's laboratory. The Tauros had been looking at the incident with pity, and feeling sorry for it while the Catterpie had tears in its eyes. All were too shocked to say anything.

* * *

When Aeris arrived at the laboratory, he spotted Gary, Professor Oak, and his assistants near an incubator in which they were keeping Pikachu in.

Professor Oak was noting down something on his notepad when Aeris had appeared. His clothes were now changed as he was in a fresh new clothing.

"How's the pokemon Professor?"

Upon hearing Aeris's voice, the Professor put down his notepad before smiling at the worried child.

"Pikachu's all fine," the Professor said. "You don't have to worry about it. It'll be all fine in just a while."

Upon hearing that, Aeris sighed in relief. "Thank God!"

"Great job out there, Ar," Gary praised and patted Aeris's shoulders. "That was really awesome."

"Well, it wasn't much..."

"That was a remarkable work indeed, Aeris. Not only did you immediately went into action to save Pikachu's life, but you even succeeded."

"A Pikachu? So that's what it's called," Aeris claimed as he approached the incubator where Pikachu was sleeping and looked at it with worry. "I hope it'll get well soon."

"Don't worry about that young man. When you're a trainer, you'll get to see even more harsh experiences. In the meanwhile, why don't we get all of you your starter pokemons. I'm sure you're excited to meet your first ever pokemon partner."

"Okay, Professor," Aeris said with a nod and Oak smiled before leading Aeris and Gary towards where the others were, all impatient for receiving their first pokemon.


	2. Chapter 2- Pallet Woodlands

Gary was in a bit of a pinch at this moment. Though he had said to Aeris that he had already decided which pokemon he was picking, Gary was getting increasingly confused by the second when he inspected the three starter pokemons.

Finally, he groaned out loud before shaking his head and picking a pokeball.

"I pick Squirtle!"

The Professor of Pallet smiled at his grandson, as impartial as he was in his job, it didn't go by that he was indeed a little excited about his grandson receiving a pokemon.

"Very well then," the Professor said before returning Squirtle back to its pokeball and giving it to Gary. "Here's Squirtle's pokeball. Harry will be there to give you your pokedex and additional pokeballs.

"Thanks gramps," Gary grinned and said before quickly dashing towards where Harry was standing patiently with an equally as kind as the Professor's smile on his face.

"Next up is-" the Professor revealed his notepad before calling out a name. "Sylvia Felicity."

"Here, here."

The silverhead came to the front and before Professor Oak could ask her to chose from one of the three given pokemons, Sylvia quickly pulled out a pokeball from her pockets and presented it to Professor Oak.

"Professor Oak, I have my own starter pokemon. It's from Kalos. Mum gave it to me."

"Oh! A pokemon from a different region. Now that is exciting, isn't it?" Oak said as he inspected the pokeball before handing it back to Sylvia. "Again, Harry should be able to register it, although I must tell you that the Pokedex is not upgraded enough to record the data of your Kalosian pokemon."

"It's fine Professor," Sylvia smiled and said before skipping towards where Harry was sitting.

Professor Oak called a few more names to the front. A lot of people were confused but did end choosing a pokemon in the end.

Meredith chose the fire type Charmander as a starter, and Stephan chose the Grass type Bulbasaur as his partner.

Soon enough, it was Aeris's turn to chose a pokemon.

"Here you go Aeris," the Professor said, presenting the three pokemons in front of him. "Chose wisely."

Aeris crossed his arms and closely inspected the three pokemons.

Aeris noted how Bulbasaur was a Naughty natured pokemon, how Charmander was a Docile one, and how Squirtle was Bold natured. He had read that pokemon natures could their growth rate and their ability to grow stronger.

It made everything all the more difficult as Aeris had to question himself a thousand times before selecting one of the pokemons.

After what looked like hours of thinking, Aeris finally sighed and shook his head before reaching for a pokeball.

But before he could touch his desired pokeball, a small electric current passed through his hand and gave him a mild shock.

"Ouch," Aeris yelped in pain and started shaking his hand before turning to look at the one who shocked him.

To his surprise, it was Pikachu with a pokeball in its hand. Aeris noticed how that pokeball had a thunderbolt marker above its button.

"Huh? Pikachu?"

"Well, well, what do you know?" the Professor Oak said suddenly and took the pokeball from Pikachu before handing it to Aeris. "It seems like Pikachu wamts you to be its trainer, Aeris."

"Huh? You do?" Aeris asked Pikachu.

He was expecting a nod or a cheery 'pika'. But instead, what he got was a 1000 volt of shock from Pikachu.

"Pikachu!"

After Pikachu ended its attack, Aeris was covered in soot and his hair had stood straight up because of the electricity.

"I-I get it. It's your way of saying yes, isn't it?"

Pikachu's hands went to its hips, and it nodded before huffing at Aeris.

"Pika pikachu."

* * *

"Alright then everyone, since you all have got your first pokemon, it's time to hold a test for you all," Professor Oak announced all of a sudden and a commotion was spreading around quickly enough.

"A week from now, in your graduation ceremony, all trainers will be paired up and would have to battle against each other in a pokemon battle. Since most of you kids will be leaving Pallet Town for your Pokemon journey, it will be a great way to make some memories."

"Memories, huh?" Gary muttered before turning to Aeris. "Hey Aeris, remember our promise?"

Aeris scoffed at him. "Of course I do, there's no way I'd forget. The first one to become Champion wins right?"

"Bull's-eye! So, we both will aim to collect the eight gym badges and then compete with each other in the Indigo League. Make sure you don't fall behind, Ar."

"No need to worry," Aeris told him. "After all, I have Pikachu with me. We'll become really strong and beat you together one day. Ain't that right, Pikachu?"

Pikachu looked up to its trainer from where it was standing on the ground before nodding and puffing its cheeks where small sparks emitted from its electric sacs.

"Heh. I'll be waiting then."

As soon as that was done, Gary stuffed his hands in his pocket before marching out of the Professor's laboratory. Looking around, Aeris spotted that most of the students had already gone home and only a handful of them were left.

"I guess we should get going, come on Pikachu," Aeris said and pulled out Pikachu's pokeball before aiming the red light at Pikachu.

To his shock though, instead of letting the light touch it, Pikachu moved away from it and jumped on top of Aeris's head before puffing its cheek and discharging electricity from its sacs.

Obviously, Aeris was the victim of the attack since Pikachu was sitting on top of him.

"Ouch! Ouch! Okay, okay! I get it, Pikachu. You don't want to be in the pokeball, is that it?"

"Pika." Pikachu nods before climbing down from Aeris's head and onto his shoulder.

"Well, I guess my shoulder works as a pokeball too."

* * *

"This is it," Aeris exclaimed, opening the door of his house. "This is my house Pikachu. Feel free to roam around, but make sure not to mess anything."

"Pika."

"In the meantime, let me make you some food."

As Aeris went towards the kitchen, Pikachu found it pretty that he was the one who would do the cooking. Regardless, he shrugged it off and took a brief walk around the house.

Aeris's house looked pretty plain, to be honest. And there wasn't much show pieces. However, what caught Pikachu's eyes was a picture in the living room of a man and woman with a child in their hand.

Since the child had messy black hair and grey eyes, Pikachu quickly deduced that it was Aeris's parents.

However, he tilted his head in confusion as even though he had looked around the whole house, there was nobody in sight except of Aeris of course.

Meanwhile, Aeris had finished preparing the food and was about to call Pikachu when he saw it standing on the living room and observing the picture of his parents.

"Oh! You must surprised, huh?" Aeris asked and wiped his hands with a towel before walking towards Pikachu and bending down to scratch its chin.

"In this house, I'm the only one living. My parents died in car crash. I guess you expected people to be here since I'm just 14 years old. Oh well..."

"Pika."

Pikachu was now starting to feel bad about it. Even though there wasn't really anybody's fault, he realized that he shouldn't have touched that subject.

"Here," Aeris said, presenting a bowl of pokemon food in front of Pikachu. "Eat up now, kay?"

Pikachu quietly started nibbling on its food and Aeris stood up and sat at a nearby chair.

"Oh, before I forget..."

Aeris suddenly remembered something and quickly pulled out his pokedex before pointing it at Pikachu who was looking at him with confused eyes.

Aeris had realized that he didn't check up on Pikachu with the pokedex, and decided to do it now.

 _"Pikachu, the Mouse pokemon. An electric type._

 _Pikachu can generate 100,000 volts of electricity through the electric sacs on its cheeks. When enraged, it is often seen discharging electricity to electrocute the enrager."_

Aeris presses a button take a view at Pikachu's moveset.

"Quick Attack and Thundershock, huh? You have some decent moves."

"Pika Pikachu!"

"Say, do you wanna start training from tomorrow?" Aeris asks Pikachu while petting its head. "There's an open field there in the woodlands. I'm sure we can try out those moves there. How about it Pikachu, you up for it?"

Pikachu suddenly fired up in excitement and it nodded at its trainer. "Pika Pikachu!"

* * *

As Aeris had said, Pallet Woodlands was indeed a lush forest beside Pallet Town. The waft scent of the air, the beaming sunlight, everything was beautiful and sunlit.

Pikachu inhaled a deep breath before breathing out the intake of air.

"Pikaaaa!"

"This is nice, isn't it, Pikachu?" Aeris smiled down at his electric type pokemon.

"Pika pikachu!" Pikachu responds with a nod and a smile.

"Let's start the training then."

"Pikka."

"First off Pikachu, let's try out Quick Attack."

"Pikka!"

Pikachu put its forearms on the ground and got a good grip of itself before it straightened its tail and launched itself forward in great speed.

Aeris was really impressed by Pikachu's performance and clapped his hands in appreciation.

"Awesome Pikachu, it seems like your effort values are mostly Speed."

Pikachu tilted its head in confusion. 'Effort Values'? What was its trainer talking about?

"Oh, right, you probably don't know about EVs," Aeris realized before pulling out his pokedex and pressing some buttons before presenting it to Pikachu. "Here."

 _"Effort Values are attributes which give bonuses to an individual Pokémon's stats and improve differently depending which Pokémon they defeat."_

After hearing the Pokedex speaking, Pikachu nodded in understanding.

"You get it now? When I said that your Effort Values are mostly based on Speed, I meant that you've been battling other pokemons that have high speed."

"Pika Pikachu."

"Anyways, since it looks like your dominant EV is Speed, I think you could learn a new move," Aeris suggested. "In the long shot, I think this move would work."

Again, Aeris pressed some buttons on his Pokedex before bending down and showing it Pikachu.

 _"Electro Ball, an Electric type move. The user forms a ball of electricity before aiming it at the opponent. The power varies on how fast the user is then the opponent."_

"See Pikachu, the more faster you are, the more powerful this attack would be. And most of all, it's easy to learn."

Pikachu nods at Aeris before sparking its cheeks. "Pika Pikachu."

"Let's get on to it then, how about first you try to gather some electricity on your tail."

"Pikka." Pikachu nodded in understanding before straightening its tail and making electricity circulating around it. At first, when the electricity was concentrated, large sparks came out and it failed, causing an explosion that engulfed both Aeris and Pikachu in soot.

Aeris coughed before giving Pikachu a thumbs up. "It's okay Pikachu, keep trying. Just think of it as if you are forming a ball."

"Pikka." Pikachu nodded before trying hard yet again.

For the first few attempts, Pikachu failed to produce anything close to a sphere of electricity. However, on the 18th try, Pikachu managed to create a very small ball of electricty on top of its tail.

"That's it Pikachu. You're doing good. Now try to put more electricity into it."

"Pikka."

Pikachu closes its eyes and tries to concentrate harder. As it did, the sphere on its tail grew larger and larger. However, when it was about to reach the size of a softball, the sphere exploded into smoke and combustions.

"*cough* *cough* It was a good try Pikachu. I think that's enough for today. Look, it's already sunset," Aeris pointed out and Pikachu looked up to notice that the sun had begun to sink down on the West.

"Pika Pikachu."

Feeling disheartened, Pikachu put his head down. Its trainer had put so much hope in it, yet it had failed to meet his expections.

When Aeris realized that Pikachu was feeling disappointed, he managed to cheer him up by smiling and patting its head.

"Hey now, it's fine Pikachu. Don't worry. Besides, it's only been a day. We still have a week left. I'm sure you'll be able to master Electro Ball by then. I believe you."

"Pika." Pikachu slowly nodded. Aeris was right. It had only been a day. There was still a lot of time left. Maybe, tomorrow would be the day.

* * *

For the next 4 days, Aeris and Pikachu's time was spent in mastering the Electro Ball.

At one point, Pikachu managed to produce a perfectly spherical ball of electricity and Aeris became pumped up when he saw it.

"Amazing Pikachu! You did it!" Aeris exclaimed before raising his hand pointing towards a tree. "Now, try to aim it at that tree."

"Pikka." Pikachu nodded. The result of its hardwork had come fruitful and although it was covered in sweats, its effort had paid off in the form of the Electro Ball floating on its tail.

"Pika pika!" Pikachu jumped up and did an aerial soumersalt before flicking its tail and releasing the Electro Ball. Unfortunately though, the Electro Ball fell a few feet short from the tree Aeris had pointed and ended up hitting the ground.

Pikachu landed on the ground and became sad again when it realized how off its target was.

"Uh, huh... It looks like there's still a bit to do about the aim. Come on, let's try again."

"Pi pikachu!"

* * *

Since then, 2 days had passed. And although Pikachu had succeeded in producing the Electro Ball, it still lacked in the aiming department. Aeris was deep in though at night when instead of sleeping, he was wide awake on his bed with its arms behind his head and Pikachu snoring softly on a pillow beside him.

"What should I do?" he muttered to himself. "At this rate, it'll be the day of the battle and Pikachu still won't be able to aim properly."

A lot of time and thinking later, Aeris sighed and ultimately gave on the though. "I guess we'll just have to think up some other tacti-"

Suddenly, his eyes fell on an object on top of his table. It was his old ball that he used to play with. When Aeris was little, he used to play dodgeball with his father. After his parents died, he made sure to keep it as a memory.

"That's it," he exclaimed loudly, making Pikachu stir in its sleep. Aeris picked up Pikachu by the shoulders and shook it awake before yelling loudly at its face. "I know what to do now. I've found a way of how you can master your Electro Ball, Pikachu."

"PIKKA!"

Aeris was late to realize that he had actually awoken a sleeping Pikachu from its sleep. When Aeris saw the frustration and anger in Pikachu's eyes, he immediately realized that he was in trouble.

"Pikachu!"

And there goes the 1,000 volts of electricity.

* * *

 _On the day of the graduation..._

"Fennikin, let's go!"

Sylvia did a 360 degree turn and revealed her pokeball before throwing it high up in the air.

The pokeball opened to showcast a small and cute fox-like pokemon. It's body was mostly orange except on the tip of its tail and ears were its fur was blazen red.

"Go, go, Charmander!" Meredith exclaimed and threw her pokeball to summon the Fire type lizard pokemon on the field.

From the crowd, Aeris took out his Pokedex to examine Meredith's pokemon. He didn't point it at Sylvia's Fennikin as he knew that the Kanto Pokedex wouldn't be able to take its readings.

 _"Charmander, the Lizard pokemon. A Fire type._

 _Charmanders are generally reserved pokemon. However, when alarmed, it can release powerful breathes of fire from its mouth that could melt even steel. It is said that a Charmander's life is determined by the fire burning on its tail."_

"Okay Charmander, let's start with Ember," Meredith commanded and Charmander chanted a loud 'Char' before opening its mouth and releasing a small breathe of fire from its mouth.

It was weird to everyone that Sylvia didn't gave any comman and instead let the Ember attack hit Fennikin. However, much to everyone's surprise, Fennikin merely shook its head and shrugged the fire off its body.

"That won't do anything to my pokemon, Meredith. You see, Fennikin is actually a Fire type too."

The crowd marvelled at the small and cute pokemon. Professor Oak was quick to take notes of the battle.

"It's our turn to attack!" Sylvia yelled and flicked her wrists. "Go Fennikin, use Psybeam!"

"Fenne!" Fennikin growled at Charmander before opening its mouth and shooting a pink beam from its mouth. The Psybeam went on to hit Charmander and knock it unconscious.

"Charmander is unable to battle," the Professor's assistant, Harry, made the call. "Fennikin is the winner."

"Yes Fennikin, we did it!" Sylvia cheered and high-fived her partner pokemon.

"Oh, damn! Maybe next time, Charmander. You did good," Meredith said and recalled her pokemon before putting aside her pokeball.

Walking to Sylvia, she put her hands behind her and pouted at the silverhead. "Aw man Sylvia! You're really good."

"Thanks," Sylvia said. "I'm aiming to win the Grand Contest. So I'm trying to get as much battling experience as I can muster."

"That's awesome!"

"Hey, nice battle Sylvia," Stephan entered the scene and praised her. "You're Fennikin was awesome too."

"Fenne!"

"Thanks Stephan. I'm sure you'll do good too."

"Of course I will," Stephan told her. "After all, if I don't, then you'll get ahead of me."

"We'll see about."

"Now, that was a very fine battle everyone," Professor Oak tells and checks his notepad before turning his attention to the next. "Up next is Stephan Goldberg and Aeris Blackwood."

"Eh? You're with the gloomy kid?" Meredith frowns and glances at Aeris who was discussing something with Gary.

"Well, I didn't want such an easy opponent, but," Stephan sighs before accepting his fate. What is done is done. "Oh well. I guess I could just give my best..."

"Yup," Sylvia agreed with him. "Do your best."

"You can count on me," Stephan said and waved at her before marching towards his position to the battlefield, as some of his fangirls kept cheering him on.

"Alright then you two. Bring out your pokemon," Harry asked them and the two obliged before Pikachu jumped from Aeris's head and on the battleground while Stephan brought out his Bulbasaur. "Alright then, Battle Begin!"

"Razor Leaf, Bulbasaur," Stephan yelled as soon as the battle had begun.

"Bulba." Bulbasaur roared before tightening its grip on the ground and aiming razor like leaves at Pikachu.

Aeris narrowed his eyes at the leaves before flicking his wrist. "Dodge it, Pikachu."

"Pikka." With a quick movement, Pikachu jumped to its left and successfully dodged the attack.

"Now, use Quick Attack."

"Pikka."

Pikachu stood on its forelegs and got a firm grip on the ground before firing itself at Bulbasaur.

The attack was so fast that Stephan didn't anticipate it and Pikachu ended up banging its head with Bulbasaur, making the latter fling out towards its trainer's side. Bulbasaur stood up back on its forelegs and shook its head before glaring at its opponent.

"You okay, Bulbasaur?" Stephan asked it, and Bulbasaur nodded before replying with a 'Bulba'. "Okay then, let's go with Tackle."

"Don't let it Pikachu," Aeris countered. "Use Quick Attack to dodge it."

"Pikka." Instead of jumping, Pikachu instead used Quick Attack and dodged the attack by outrunning its opponent.

"Great, now use Thundershock!"

"Pika pika pika pika!" Pikachu jumped up and electricity flared at its cheeks. "Pikachu!"

Pikachu released the great bit of electricity. The thunder crackled towards Bulbasaur and covered the grass type pokemon in crackling electricity.

"No, Bulbasaur!" Stephan cried out in desperation. Bulbasaur had taken a huge amount of damage and it didn't look like it would survive much longer.

Everyone was pretty shocked at how well Aeris's Pikachu was doing. All of Pikachu's attacks had managed to land on Bulbasaur while none of Bulbasaur's attacks had hit its marker.

"Nice job Pikachu," Aeris called out to it. "Keep it up."

"Pikka." Pikachu nodded back its trainer before looking forward towards the wounded Bulbasaur.

"Oh my, it looks like Bulbasaur is in a tight spot," Sylvia told Meredith.

"You're right. I never expected the gloomy kid to be this good. He's on a whole another level."

Professor Oak was also there to make some genius remarks about the battle.

"Aeris is actually one of the most potential candidates of a pokemon trainer. Most people wouldn't expect it, but his understanding, his concept, and his tactics are far better then the average teenager's. I guess its to be expected that he's doing so well."

Gary sighed in relief when he saw how well Pikachu and Aeris were performing. He furthermore scoffed at his own dismay. "Heh. I was worrying over no reason."

Everyone pretty much expected Pikachu to win at this moment. However, much to their shock, a green glow suddenly started emitting from Bulbasaur.

"What the-" Gary became really surprised as even though he had an idea of what it was, there was no way he had predicted that to happen.

"Bubla!" Bulbasaur yelled, and the green glow disappeared. Notably, the bulb on Bulbasaur's bulb seemed to have opened up a little.

"So it activated it's Overgrow, huh?" Aeris spoke to himself, though everyone pretty much heard him.

"Overgrow, what's that?" Meredith asks Sylvia.

"It's Bulbasaur's ability. When grass pokemons are in a pinch and they don't have much left to go on, they activate this ability. Overgrow increases the effectives of grass type attacks by 200%."

"Awesome! I think Bulbasaur can make a comeback now!"

Contrary to before, Stephan was actually smirking right now. He was sweating crazy when he realized that he was on the losing spot. However, the tide might have just turned to his direction.

"Let's finish this quickly Bulbasaur, use Razor Leaf."

Bulbasaur growled yet again before shooting the Razor Leaf. However, unlike before, this time the leaves were bigger and more sharper.

The attack was also faster as Pikachu wasn't able to dodge it, resulting in the Razor Leaf doing critical damage as Pikachu yelped in pain.

"Pikka!"

"Pikachu!" Aeris cried out in despair. "Come on buddy, hang in there."

"Pikka. Pikachu!" Slowly and slowly, Pikachu picked itself up and got back on its four feet.

"Alright then Pikachu, let's try out that new move. Use Electro Ball."

"Huh? What?" Stephan was utterly confused when he saw Pikachu jump high in the before spinning and releasing a sphere of electricity aimed towards Bulbasaur.

"Bulba!" Bulbasaur cried out in pain. The Electro Ball hit straight on and was able to deal damage to Bulbasaur.

"Alright Pikachu," Aeris yelled in delight. "That training paid off."

 _Flashback..._

In the morning at Pallet Woodlands, Aeris had managed to baffle Pikachu by presenting a softball to him.

The utterly confused Pikachu tilted its head in confusion as it had no idea what it was for.

"Listen Pikachu. For now, trying throwing this softball using your tail. If you manage to do this, then I'm sure that you'll be able to aim Electro Ball."

"Pikka." Finally it dawned on him. By using the softball as a replacement of Electro Ball, Pikachu could learn how to aim. A brilliant idea indeed.

So for the next few hours, Aeris and Pikachu worked their butt off to improve their aim. At first, it was difficult for Pikachu to hit its marker. However, after attempts after attempts, Pikachu managed to hit the bull's-eye with the softball.

"Alright Pikachu. Now I'm sure that you can use Electro Ball to aim properly."

"Pi Pikachu!"

 _Flashback ends._

"Hey Bulbasaur, can you stand up?"

"Bulba. Bulbasaur."

"Don't let them Pikachu. Wrap it up using Thundershock."

"Pikka!" Pikachu jumped and like before, electricity flared at its cheeks, forming radical spheres. "Chuuuuu!"

With one great roar, Pikachu released all of the electricty from its body.

Bulbasaur was absolutely electrocuted by the attack. Dealing a huge amount of damage, Bulbasaur finally gave up to unconsciousness as it fell on the ground with swirls in its eyes.

"Bulbasaur is unable to battle," Harry declared. "Pikachu wins."

"Alright Pikachu, we won!" Aeris shouted and jumped in victory.

"Pika pikachu!"

* * *

Aeris took a deep breath. He recalled all the memories he had made in this quiet little town before looking from over the hills at Pallet Town.

"This is it, Pikachu. We'll be leaving Pallet Town now."

"Pika. Pikachu!" Pikachu saddened at the thought of not seeing the little place again. The pokemons, the Professor, everyone. However, the excitement of new adventure didn't fail to pump its heart.

"Let's go Pikachu," Aeris suggested, and Pikachu nodded before jumping on Aeris's shoulder as the duo took their leave from Pallet Town.

* * *

"Hey, Sylvia, wait up!" Meredith yelled over her shoulders as she tried desperately to catch up to the silverhead who was way ahead of her. "Wait for me, would you?"

Sylvia stopped and turned around to look at whoever was calling her. "Huh? Meredith? What are you doing?"

Meredith stopped in her tracks and panted some breathes before grinning at Sylvia. "I have a plan," she says. "Let's travel together."

"Huh?"

"Come on now, Sylvia," Meredith said as she hooked her arms with Sylvia's. "It's the more the merrier."

"O-okay," Sylvia reluctantly agrees, although- "Well, travelling with friends does seem fun."

"Right?"


	3. Chapter 3- Onward To Viridian City

"I guess this way leads to Viridian City," Aeris says as he points out the road to Pikachu. In front of them was a long, plain road that had no obstacles on it.

"Pika pikachu." Pikachu nods as it trails behind its trainer.

It has been a day since Aeris and Pikachu left Pallet Town. Since then, they hadn't really encountered anything special. Well, journeys do have their boring parts.

While Pikachu was walking, suddenly its ears stood straight up, as if it had heard a voice.

"Pikka."

"Huh? You hear something, Pikachu?" Aeris bends down and asks his electric type starter.

"Pikka. Pikachu!"

As soon as Pikachu nodded, a bustling noise started coming from a nearby grass. Aeris looked around and spotted a blue, snake-like pokemon. He was very surprised though when he checked his Pokedex.

"Dratini, the Dragon Pokemon. A Dragon type.

Dratini sheds its skin as it grows. Often doing so while hidden behind large, powerful waterfalls."

As soon as he saw Dratini, Aeris tilted his head in confusion.

"Huh? Are you actually supposed to find a pokemon that rare in this place?" Ash asks himself as Pikachu answers with a shake of its head.

"Pika pika."

"Well whatever," Aeris said as he put away the Pokedex in his pocket. "Since it looks like we won't be seeing anything like that soon, let's catch it Pikachu."

"Pika pika!"

"Alright Pikachu, use Quick Attack."

"Pikka!" Pikachu steadies itself before launching its body at Dratini.

"Draaaaa!" Dratini opens its mouth and a small mystical sphere comes out of it. The sphere is then fired forward like a smoke breath.

Since Dratini's move was a long range attack, the mystical breath ended up hitting Pikachu and injuring it.

"Pikka."

"Pikachu, can you stand up?"

"Pika. Pikachu!" Determined, Pikachu stands up before glaring at Dratini.

"Alright then, use Thundershock!"

"Pika pika pika pika." Pikachu puffed its cheeks and produced static electricity before firing it at Dratini. "Pikachu!"

"Draaaaaaa!" Dratini squeled in pain as the electricty started its effect.

"Now's the time," Aeris said, taking out an empty pokeball and throwing it at Dratini. "Pokeball, go!"

The pokeball hit Dratini's head before a red light consumed Dratini and trapped it inside the pokeball.

The pokeball then started to shake rapidly as Aeris and Pikachu watched with anticipation.

One shake.

Two shake.

Three shake.

Four shake.

With a 'ting' sound, the pokeball shut close and stopped moving.

"Alright Pikachu, nice catch!" Aeris exclaimed as he took Dratini's pokeball.

"Pika pikachu!"

However, even though he was happy, it confused as to what a rare pokemon like Dratini was doing in the middle of something like this path.

And just when he was thinking about that, Aeris heard a huge shout.

"Hey! Dratini! Where are you?"

With more bustling, an elder boy reveals himself to Aeris. This boy was older, taller, and had muzzel cut to his short, black hair.

"Hey, you," he says to Aeris.

"Huh? Me?"

"Yes, you there. Have you seen a pokemon called Dratini around here?"

"Oh! I did," Aeris answers him. At the same time, Pikachu nods its head.

"Really, really?! Where is it?" The boy started glancing at all direction. However, what came next was a big bummer to him.

"I caught it," Aeris reveals Dratini's pokeball, not realising how much pain he had put onto the boy.

"WHAT? NOOOOOOOOO!" The boy cried out and facepalmed himself. "And just when I was so near to catching it."

"Eh? I'm really sorry," Aeris apologized to him. "I didn't know you were trying to catch it too."

The boy then sighed. Certainly, he was looking to catch the rare Dratini. However-

"Well, it can't be helped. I did get my chances after all," he tells Aeris before offering him his hand. "Anyways, I'm Zack."

"Aeris Blackwood," Aeris introduces himself, shaking the boy's hand before letting it go. "And this is my partner Pikachu."

"Pikka." Pikachu chirps with a wave, and climbs onto Aeris's shoulder.

"You're from Pallet Town, aren't you?" Zack guesses.

"Yup. I'm a new trainer. Pikachu is my starter."

"Huh? Aren't the starters in Pallet supposed to be Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle?"

Aeris sweatdrops while trying to explain the situation. "Well, a lot of weird things happened..."

"Anyways," Aeris shrugs before asking. "I was wondering what Dratini was doing here. I mean, you'd usually not expect something like that to be in this."

"Oh, about that," Zack scratches his back before explaining. "That Dratini came from Vermillion City."

"Huh? Vermillion City?"

Zack nods at him. "My family has a business of trading goods using ships. That Dratini just happened to be on the ship. My dad told me about it when he saw Dratini. I've been chasing it till here."

"What? You've been chasing Dratini from Vermillion City?" Although the situation was explained to Aeris, it was still hard for him to believe that someone would come from Vermillion for just a single pokemon. Well, Dratini was a rare pokemon...

"Yup," Zack claimed before sighing as a looming expression came to his face. "It's a bummer though that I couldn't catch it."

"Sorry again for that," Aeris said, apologizing again when he realized the time and effort Zack had put into that Dratini.

"Don't worry," Zack encourages him. "I'm sure I'll get to catch something like that one day."

"I hope so..."

"Anyways, you're going towards Vermillion City, right?" Zack asks Aeris.

Aeris nods at Zack. "Yeah. We're heading towards the gym in there. I heard that they've got a new gym leader."

"I guess you're aiming for the Indigo League then."

"Yup. I'm aiming to be Pokemon Master."

"Well, that's some dream you've got there," Zack tells him.

"Yeah. I want to get more stronger and stronger. And along the way, I want to meet all the pokemons in this world."

"Awesome!" Zack squels in delight. "I think I know just what to do now. You know, as they say, when two trainers meet eyes, what happens?"

"What happens?" Aeris asks Zack as he himself had no idea about it. This causes Zack to sweatdrop while falling anime style.

"They battle, dude," Zack yells at him before recomposing himself. "So, how about a two-on-two battle then."

"I'm sorry but Pikachu and Dratini are the only pokemon I have right now," Aeris tells him with a bow. "And Dratini is kind of injured since I battled against it using PIkachu. I don't think it is able to battle right now..."

"Oh man! And just when I was really looking forward to a battle..." Disheartened, Zack crouches on the ground.

Aeris sweatdrops at the trainer before offering an alternative. "How about this then- once we reach Viridian City, I can heal my pokemons in the Pokemon Center and then we could battle."

"Well, that works I guess." Zack stands up and straightens himself before rubbing his nose. "I can lead you the way to Viridian City. I mean, I did come from that direction after all."

"Well, that would be helpful..."

* * *

"Hey, Sylvia! How long will it be till we reach Viridian City? This place is really creepy!" Meredith explains and grabs tighter onto her backpack while trying to get the vines off her.

"I don't know," Sylvia tells her. "The signboard said that this was the way."

Apparently, Sylvia and Meredith had taken up the root towards Viridian City and ended up in a forrest track that had some really creepy plants along the way whose roots and stems were sticking up with each other, allowing space for a very narrow path.

Meanwhile, the signboard...

A signboard stood straight between two paths. One looked to be leading to a forrest while the other was a straight path.

The signboard had only one arrow that was pointed towards the forrest, with the markings, "Viridian City" on it.

Suddenly, a wind came up and blew the signboard, changing its direction and making the arrow face the plain road.

Back to Sylvia and Meredith...

"Argh! Get off me!" Meredith yells and rids off yet another bunch of roots from herself.

Suddenly, Meredith feels a glare coming from somewhere. Sylvia and Meredith turn around to spot a pair of blazen eyes glaring at them.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Both girls shout and scream before running towards the opposite direction, back to where they came from.

After the girls had disappeared, the pair of eyes started moving closer and came under the sunlight where it revealed itself to be only a Catterpie crawling on the ground.

"Catterpie?" The pokemon tilted its head in confusion, astounded as to why the two girls had ran away so suddenly.

* * *

"Pika pika Pikachu. Pika pika Pikachu. Pi pi Pikachu. Pika pika Pikachu."

Aeris sweatdrops at his pokemon, who was trying to mimic a Hawaiian dance. "Eh, Pikachu, what are you doing?"

"Pika pikachu!" It chimed and scratched its back in embarrasment. Maybe, Hawaiian dance isn't really on its radar.

"Your pokemon is..." Zack paused, trying to find the right word to describe the innocent Pikachu. "Weird."

"Pikachu!" Pikachu sparked its cheeks and threatened to shock Zack who cowered behind Aeris.

"Ah! Sorry, Master Pikachu. That won't happen again."

"Pi pikachu!"

"How did we end up in this position?" Aeris frowns and wonders to himself.

"Hey look, we've reached Viridian City," Zack announces and Aeris and his Pikachu look ahead before smiling. They've reached the first destination of their journey.

"Hurray! Let's hurry to the Pokemon Center then."

Pikachu and Zack nodded before Zack led them the way to the Pokemon Center.

* * *

"Here it is," Zack indicated. "This is the Pokemon Center."

"Pikka." Pikachu's eyes shone at the white building with a Pokeball sign on the above. It had heard from others that there was a certain nurse that worked in the Pokemon Center who was capable of making every pokemon feel homely and loved.

"Let's go in," Aeris suggested and the automatic door of the Pokemon Center slid open as the three entered it. In it, the first thing they spotted was a big, chubby pokemon whose body was pink and was wearing a nurse apron and cap.

"Chan. Chansey," the pokemon greeted them.

"Do we have visitors Chansey?" someone asks from behind as a young nurse reveals themselves to Aeris and the others. She was fair, had pinkish hair curled behind her back and was wearing the same uniform as Chansey.

Upon seeing Aeris, Pikachu, and Zack, she greeted them with a smile.

"Hi there, I'm Nurse Joy. How can I help you?"

"Oh! I want to heal my pokemon," Aeris tells her as he gives Dratini's pokeball to Nurse Joy.

"Sure," Nurse Joy says with a smile. "I'll be back in a minute," she tells them before going inside the back of the desk through the curtains.

"Chan. Chansey." Chansey follows Joy and disappears, but not before Aeris could scan it with his Pokedex.

"Chansey, the Egg pokemon. A Normal type.

Chansey is a kind pokemon who shares its egg with those who are injured and heal them. It is said that a pokemon holding the egg that Chansey carries around in its pouch will grow healthy."

"So that's a Chansey, huh?" Aeris says before putting out his Pokedex.

"That's the healing pokemon," Zack tells him. "It just shows how close people and pokemon actually are."

"Pika pi."

A few minutes later, Zack and Aeris was waiting in the coffee table when Nurse Joy came and gave back Dratini's pokeball to Aeris.

"Here Aeris, your Dratini is all up and good."

"Thanks Nurse Joy," Aeris thanks her before putting away Dratini's pokeball.

"By any chance, do you come from Pallet Town?" Nurse Joy asks him and Aeris nods.

"Yeah. I'm a new trainer."

"That's really lucky for me then," Nurse Joy tells them before putting her hand inside the pocket of her apron and taking out a pokeball. "You see, there was a certain pokemon that needs to be treated. However, since I couldn't figure out what kind if sickness it has, I couldn't treat it. I was wondering if Professor Oak could take a look at it."

"Oh. I guess I could help you with that," Aeris says, taking the pokeball from Nurse Joy's hand.

"Thank you, it'd be a big help!" Nurse Joy says with a smile and bids them goodbye before taking her role in the station where more trainers were waiting.

"Amazing!" Zack rolls off his tongue. "Nurse Joy is so sincere with her work. I wish there were more people like that..."

"What do you mean?" Aeris asks him.

"Oh, you didn't know?" Zack questions as Aeris shakes his head. "Lately, there's been a crime syndicate on action. They've been stealing other's pokemon quite a lot. They are called Team Rocket."

Pikachu perked its ears at the information from where it was sitting at Aeris's lap.

"Team Rocket? Never heard of 'em."

"Well, I guess, since you are a new trainer after all..." Zack says before dusting his pants off and getting up. "Anyways, shouldn't you be contacting Professor Oak now?"

"Oh yeah," Aeris replies, getting up with the pokeball in his hand. "I'm going to have a chat with the Professor right now."

"You do that," Zack tell him with a nod. "Later, I'll show you around in the Viridian Gym."

"Thanks Zack, you're a big help."

"Pika pika."

"Aw man! You're making me blush."

* * *

Aeris booted up the PC of the Pokemon Center before making direct contact with the Professor who picked up almost immediately.

"Hey Professor."

"Hi Aeris, and you too Pikachu!" Professor Oak greets them.

"Pika pika!" Pikachu responds with a wave.

"You know Aeris, you're the second person to call me today. And it looks like you're in Viridian City."

"Second person? Who's the first then?"

"That would be Gary," Oak informs him. "Among the trainers that received their pokemons from me, Gary was the first one to reach at Viridian City. You're the second."

"Uff. Damn! He got ahead of me!" Aeris curses and speaks to himself while the Professor chuckles in amusement.

"Oh! Don't worry Aeris. I'm sure you'll catch up in no time. Besides, it seems like you already caught a new pokemon."

"Yes Professor," Aeris nods.

"Can you show it to me?"

"Yup," Aeris says before bringing out Dratini's pokeball and revealing the Dragon pokemon to Professor Oak.

Professor Oak's eyes popped out of his face as soon as he saw Dratini.

"Oh my! What is this? Are my eyes playing tricks with me, or is it really a Dratini?"

"It is Professor, I found it on my way here. Although, it wasn't exactly mine to catch..." Aeris tells him with a sweatdrop while Dratini keeps sliding on the PC panel.

"My my! This is really new! Dratini is a really rare pokemon Aeris. Even more so as it evolves into the most mythical pokemon Dragonite. I'm sure you'll get really strong if you have it."

"Yeah. I guess..." Aeris retracts Dratini back to its pokeball before showing Professor Oak the pokeball that Nurse Joy gave. "Anyways Professor, Nurse Joy gave me this pokemon. She couldn't find exactly what was wrong with it and was thinking if you would know."

"Certainly yes," Professor Oak replies with a grin. "We Professor research on a variety of subjects. Searching about the unknown is also a part of our work."

"Okay then, I'm sending it to you Professor," Aeris tells him and places the pokeball on the transfer pannel before pressing a button. The transfer pannel starts making some weird noise before a light is shooted on the pokeball and it disappears.

"I've got it Aeris," Professor Oak tells him and shows Aeris the pokeball on the screen.

"Thanks Professor. I'll take my leave then."

"Okay then. Take care Aeris. Take care Pikachu."

"You too, Professor."

"Pika pika!"

And the screen of the PC went black.

* * *

"The Viridian Gym should be right...here." Zack puts down the map and he and Aeris looked forward at the Viridian Gym.

"Is this it?" Aeris asks him, unsure because of the the sign that said "Closed" in front of it.

"This is weird. The Gym should be open..."

As they were lost in thought, an elderly man passes by them and sees that the kids were standing in front of the closed gym.

"Oh! Young ones. If you're looking to battle this gym, then I'm afraid to tell you that it has been closed down for a while."

"Huh? What?"

"The Gym Leader is a rusty one I guess. Even though he's new, he closed the Gym almost immediately after he became one. "I guess it'll take some days, or maybe months for the gym to reopen."

"What? Months?" Disheartened, Aeris collapses on the ground as a dark aura surrounds him. "And I was looking forward to battling the gym leader..."

"Ah! Don't worry Aeris. Why don't you battle me then?" Zack suggests. "Remember, you told me that we'd battle when you healed your pokemon. The time is just right I think."

"Oh yeah! I guess that could work..."

* * *

"Let's have a two-on-two battle Aeris," Zack suggested and Aeris nods before walking to his side of the field.

"Alright then, Dratini, I chose you!" Aeris yells and brings out Dratini's pokeball before the snake-like pokemon presents itself on the battlefield.

"Draaaa!"

"Oooooh! You're going with Dratini first," Zack observes and brings out his own pokeball. "Alright then. Scyther, let's go get 'em!"

Zack's pokeball opens up to reveal a bipedal, insectoid creature with scythes as its arms.

Aeris was quick to bring out his Pokedex in order to examine the pokemon.

"Scyther, the Mantis pokemon. A Bug and Flying type.

Its claws are sharp as swords, and it is a powerful flyer. This Pokémon is rarely seen by humans and almost never captured."

"It seems like Scyther would be a tough opponent to deal with," Aeris remarks as he puts back his Pokedex.

"Of course," Zack boasts about it and rubs his nose. "Scyther is one of my most strongest pokemon. I caught it back when I was a new trainer."

"Alright then Scyther, let's begin with Quick Attack."

"Scyyyy!" Scyther raises its scythes and tilts its head before gliding down at Dratini.

"Use Safeguard Dratini."

"Draaaa!" Dratini called out its name and a light barrier surrounded it before it disappeared.

Scyther's body launched into Dratini, and although some damage was done, the attack didn't seem to have much effect.  
You first  
"Nice one Aeris," Zack tells him. "However, you can't avoid this one. Scyther, use Fury Cutter!"

"Scyther!"

Scyther raised its arms and its scythes glowed green before it charged towards Dratini. Noticeable, a twitch of frustration also appeared on its forehead.

"Block it out Dratini, use Twister!"

"Draaatini!" Dratini's voice echoed around the place and the wind started to get faster. Soon, a small tornado started to form and Scyther was caught in it.

"Come on Scyther," Zack shouted out to his pokemon. "You can do it. Don't let up! Head straight for Dratini!"

"Scyyyyyy!"

Scyther blocked the current with its arms and started to move forward. Reaching the end of the Twister, it appeared over Dratini, and with furious arms, swiped its scythes at Dratini who squealed in pain.

"Draaaaaaaaa!"

Unfortunately for Aeris, Dratini couldn't survive the attack and let up before it fell to the floor, unconscious.

"Alright Scyther, you did it!" Zack yells from behind and Scyther turns back to smile and wave back at its trainer.

"Scyyyyy!"

"No problem Dratini," Aeris says and recalls his pokemon. "You did good," he tells its pokeball before turning to Pikachu. "Alright Pikachu, its your turn."

Pikachu fists its arm and nods before walking in front of Aeris.

"Start with Quick Attack, Pikachu!"

"Pikka!" Pikachu steadies itself and grips the ground. "Chuuuu!" It then launches itself at the opponent.

"You use Quick Attack too Scyther!"

"Scytheeeeeeeer!"

Scyther rests its arms beside it before flying towards Pikachu with increased speed.

Both pokemons banged heads with each other and in a moment of instant, tried forcing the other to move back.

However, Aeris had other plans.

"Don't let up Pikachu, use Thundershock!"

"Pikachu!" Pikachu released the electricity and since Scyther was near it, received serious electrocution that caused it to faint due to the damage.

"Oh damn, Scyther!" Zack frowns and returns his pokemon. "Don't worry my friend, you did well."

"Good job Pikachu! Be ready for the next one!"

"Pikka!"

"Alright then Aeris, get ready for this next one. Sandshrew, let's go!"

"Sandshreeeeeeeeew!"

Zack's next pokemon was bipedal yellow pokemon with brick-like skin on its back. It was standing in a curled position and had tough claws.

"Be ready for this one Pikachu, it will be tough!"

"Pika pika!"

"Sandshrew, use Rollout!"

Without waiting anymore, Sandshrew curls itself in a ball before spinning towards Pikachu.

"Pikachu, use Electro Ball on the ground."

"Pika." Pikachu produces the ball of electricty before firing it in front of it. "Chuuu!"

The result was a smoke cloud being created in front of them. Sandshrew had to halt in its track as because of the smoke, it was unable to sense Pikachu.

"Alright Pikachu, use Quick Attack."

"Pikka!"

Out of the smoke, Pikachu came rushing in towards Sandshrew who flinched out of shock.

"Pika pika pika pika!" Pikachu ran forward, gaining speed.

"Sandshrew, quick!" Zack calls out at the last moment. "Use Dig!"

As fast as it could, Sandshrew faced the ground and quickly got its arms to work as it dug out the sand and dived underground.

Pikachu's attack missed and it was left standing on the ground with confusion in its face.

"Now Sandshrew!"

Out of nowhere, Sandshrew came out under Pikachu's feet and hit the electric rodent.

"Pikka!"

Pikachu screamed out, as it flew straight towards its horrified trainer.

"Hold on Pikachu!" Aeris says before readying himself to catch the incoming pokemon.

Thankfully, Aeris caught Pikachu just in time, and Pikachu opened its eyes to see Aeris smiling in relief at it.

"Thank God Pikachu! That was a close one!"

"Pika pika!"

"Sandshrew, return!" Zack recalls his pokemon before quickly rushing towards Aeris and Pikachu.

"Hey, you guys, are you okay?"

Aeris nods his head at Zack. "We're all fine. No need to worry."

Zack sighs in relief before wiping the sweat off his forehead. "Phew. I was really worried for a moment there."

"It's fine, right Pikachu?" Aeris asks the pokemon in his arm and Pikachu responds with a refreshing 'Pikka'. "We have to train harder buddy. We have to become even more stronger than before."

"Pika pika!"

"That's right, Aeris, the more you sweat your butt off, the better the results will be."

"Yeah!" Aeris says. "Maybe someday, we'll be able to beat you."

"Someday Aeris," Zack says. "For now, I guess its time to say goodbye, I've gotta get back to Vermillion City."

"Oh, I see..."

"Anyways, you're headed towards the Gym in Pewter City, right?"

"I guess..." Aeris answers. "Since it doesn't look like the Viridian Gym is about to open anytime soon, I guess we have to try our luck in Pewter then."

"Okay then. For going to Pewter City, you'll need to pass through Viridian Forrest. Be careful though, that place is quiet dangerous. Since you're a new trainer, I suggest you carry some Potions and Antidotes. They'll come in use."

"Thanks, Zack. You're a big help."

"Don't mind," he tells Aeris. "For now, goodbye Aeris and Pikachu. I hope we meet again someday."

"Me too, Zack."

"Pika Pikachu!"


	4. Chapter 4- A Skit In Viridian Forest

"Let's go Pikachu, use Quick Attack!"

"Pikka!"

Pikachu puts its paws on the ground and grumbles to itself before charging at its opponent, a small yellow bug-like pokemon with a pointed tail.

"Weedle, use String Shot!"

"Buzz!"

Weedle nuzzled its cheeks and produced a white semen in its mouth before spraying it onto Pikachu's direction.

"Dodge it Pikachu!"

Although in a tough spot, Pikachu was barely able to dodge the String Shot and was able to shift the trajectory of its run before banging heads with the Weedle, making the latter flung out behind and crash into a tree.

Aeris flicked his arm.

"Finish it! Thundershock!"

"Pikka!"

Pikachu jumped up! Its cheeks flared with electricity as sparks started being emitted from its red sacs.

"Chuuuuuuuuuuuu!"

A full 1,000 volts of electricity was launched at the poor Weedle who lay cowering in fear while its bug-loving training was unable to do anything.

"Alright Pikachu!"

"Pikka!"

Pikachu jumped back towards its trainer and fist pumped him before landing softly on the ground.

Aeris's opponent, the bug-catcher, sighed in disappointment before recalling his pokemon back to its pokeball.

"Damn it! And, I was really close too."

He retracted his pokeball, and put away the net he was carrying before turning towards Aeris for a handshake, a common sign of sportsmanship after the end of a pokemon battle.

"Man, you guys are awesome!"

"I know right!"

Aeris said as he returned the shake while grinning at Pikachu who was doing the same.

"But, I'm just a newbie. There's someone even stronger here in Viridian Forest."

Curiosity was evident in Aeris's eyes. Someone even stronger? Who could it be?

"He's a bug-catcher like me. However, he's really experienced. I heard that he's really into battling trainers from Pallet Town."

"Trainers from Pallet Town, you say…"

It was interesting to say the least. After all, battling strong trainers really _would_ be a good experience for Aeris.

Aeris and Pikachu was walking along the road while looking at the Town Map function in the Pokedex.

As they kept walking, they heard loud bustling from a nearby bush.

"Who is it?"

"Pikka?!"

The bustling intensified, and Aeris quickly became alerted.

However, to both him and Pikachu's surprise, what came out was a small, rabbit-like pokemon with pink bunny ears and two up sharp tooth.

"Nido!"

"Eh?"

The Pokedex fired up on its own as its radar was coincidentally pointed at the small pokemon.

" _Nidoran, the Poison Pin pokemon. A poison type._

 _Its large ears are always kept upright. If it senses danger, it will attack with a poisonous sting."_

"A Nidoran, huh? It's common around these parts, I guess," Aeris muttered as he put away the Pokedex.

"No matter, let's catch it Pikachu."

"Pikka."

The rodent chanted as it jumped in front of its trainer and entered a stance.

"Nido."

The opposition pokemon perked its ears upon suspicion and turned around to stare back at the sparking Pikachu which was soon to be its opponent.

"Let's go Pikachu!"

"Pikka." It flared its cheeks with electricity.

"Start with Quick Attack!"

"Pika!"

As soon as it maintained a steady ground, Pikachu launched itself at Nidoran in lightning speed.

The Poison Pin pokemon countered by hardening its features and glaring at Pikachu before pointing its horn at Pikachu, as a glow started flowing on the top of its horn.

In a rush, Pikachu crashed on to Nidoran, only to get poked by Nidoran's on its stomach.

"Pika...Chu!"

Pikachu grunted in reply. Its face turned sour with a bitter taste of pain on its lips.

"Don't let up Pikachu, use Thundershock!"

Still in contact with Nidoran's horn, Pikachu kept consciousness and started overflowing with electricity before firing lightning bolts at Nidoran with direct contact.

"Nidoooooo!"

Unable to keep up with the 1,000 volts of electricity, Nidoran let go of the contact it had with Pikachu's belly.

However, even the pain decreased, it still caused a lot of damage as Nidoran's health was down to the gutter with Pikachu's intensifying bolts of electricity.

"Wrap it up Pikachu, use Electro Ball."

Pikachu dispersed its electricity and hopped back.

"Pika. Pika. Pika. Pika."

It chanted.

 _Time to end this!_

The familiar ball of electricity appeared on top of Pikachu's tail, sparks vibrating from it.

"Pikachu!"

Pikachu jumped and somersaulted high in the air before releasing the Electro Ball at the dismantled Nidoran.

"Nido."

Nidoran was about to jump away.

However, due to Pikachu being faster then Nidoran, the Electro Ball was crashing on Nidoran's body in seconds as the contact caused an explosion in the forest.

* * *

 **BANG!**

Sylvia and Meredith were walking along a side-track of Viridian Forrest when they heard an explosion from the middle of nowhere.

"What was that?"

Meredith ended up asking her friend, to which Sylvia shook her head.

"Don't know."

"Wanna check it?"

Meredith asks the silverhead.

It's been hours since they've been into Viridian Forrest, and there's still no sign of the exit.

Maybe, they'd be able to find a way if they went towards that direction.

"I guess, we could…"

* * *

"Alright! Pokeball, go!"

Aeris announced before throwing the ball directly at Nidoran who was trying to catch its breath.

The ball stuck up on Nidoran's forehead before sucking the Poison Pin pokemon inside it.

One shake.

Two shakes.

Three shakes.

Four shakes.

Five shakes.

 _Ting!_

The familiar 'Ting' sound quickly came from the pokeball, signaling a successful catch.

"Alright! We caught another one Pikachu!"

"Pika, pika!"

Pikachu and Aeris fist-pumped each other while the latter held the newly-caught Nidoran's pokeball.

A new chapter in their journey was about to begin for Aeris and Pikachu.

And along with that, they've also got themselves a new friend.

Now, it's for time to decide how far they can go with their spirit and willpower.

* * *

"Um, Sylvia, I really don't like this place…."

Meredith shivered as she kept turning her head from place to place.

The forest was dark, the forest was gloomy, but above all- the forest was creepy as hell!

"It's not like I like it either," Sylvia muttered, trying to crawl her way through the endless pitch of grass and bushes. "I can't believe someplace like this even exists!"

Unbelievably, this was only the first part of their journey. Only God knew how these two were gonna overcome what would lie ahead!

 _Glare._

Meredith felt someone's stare. Her back straightened and a shiver ran through her spine.

"S-Sylvia…...I-I think w-we should t-turn back."

"Y-Yeah. I think so too Mer. We should turn back and get out of he-."

It was on the timing that both Sylvia and Meredith turned their heads when two beaming red eyes glared back at them with intensifying curiosity.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

The girls' screaming was so loud that it alerted a certain trainer who was on the other side of Viridian Forest.

Aeris Blackwood and his Pikachu were continuing their trek through the grassy tavern when they heard two extremely loud, and extremely terrified voices of what was presumed to be females.

"What was that Pikachu?"

Aeris asked his partner, who replied with a shake of its head, signaling that it didn't knew.

"Pika, pika."

"Well, whatever," Aeris muttered as he shrugged the thing off before continuing his trekking. "Not like I care."

Damn was this guy uptight!

* * *

Ahead of all the other trainers from Pallet Town was Gary Oak with the bundle of pokeballs on his belt.

Gary was an ace. As such, he had already cleared the trial which was Viridian City, and was continuing his way towards Pewter where the first gym for him lay.

 _Sigh…._

"This is so boring!"

Gary lamented on his journey so far.

Some weak trainers, some wannabes, and a bunch of super lame pokemons had him in a certain lack of excitement.

"That bug-catcher was the only thing interesting about this place. I wonder with Aeris had fought him already. That guy looked really serious in battling Pallet trainers."

Thinking back, Gary _did_ have a bit of problem in battling that specific trainer.

Although his moves were plain, and there was a certain lack of strategy, the bug-catcher's pokemons were very experienced in terms of Viridian Forest's specs. They were overpowered if anything.

However, due to a lack of strategy on the trainer's part, Gary had pitched up the win even though it was just barely.

He'd gotta thank his pokemons for it later.

* * *

 _So far, so good!_

Aeris and Pikachu's journey had gone on a smooth start.

With a few wins and three pokeballs around his belt, Aeris's journey has been going much better then he'd expected.

However, for now, reading the Pokedex's 'Town Map' feature looked much harder than his pending adventure.

"Um, I think we should go through this way," Aeris signaled Pikachu.

The yellow rodent pokemon, although proud of its trainer's battling skills, is now finding it hopeless with how horrible its trainer was with direction.

With an apparent sigh, Pikachu jumped on Aeris's shoulder and snatched the map before reading it himself.

"Pikka!"

Pikachu suddenly realized something.

"What happened? Find anything?"

Aeris questioned.

Pikachu glanced at its trainer from the corner of its eyes before turning the map upside down and presenting it to Aeris with a twitch of its forehead.

"Eh? So, it was upside down this whole time?!"

Pikachu crossed its arms and glared at its trainer.

"S-Sorry Pikachu."

"Pi, Pikachu!"

* * *

After retracing their positions, and tracking the right path, Pikachu and Aeris start from exactly the center of Viridian Forest before starting to follow up through the map's directions, a _not_ upside down that is.

"Hey Pikachu, want to set up camp for today?"

"Pi Pikachu."

It was almost dark.

The sun could be seen on the distant horizon, sinking down under the sea as a blanket of red and orange cover the skies.

The trees shake slightly due to the risen wind as Aeris and Pikachu set up the tent.

It was nice to say the least.

Although the two of them had hoped that they would reach Pewter before sunset, the plan was unsuccessful due to Aeris's _*ahem*_ 'precise' direction skills.

Aeris put up the blankets, pillows, and the portable lighter inside the tent as Pikachu snuggles close to its trainers' arms, seeking warmth.

A very nice day indeed….

That didn't apply to the two girls who were passing by though.

"W-what is that Sylvy?"

"Don't know Mer," Sylvia honestly answers Meredith's question. "From the looks of it, that's a tent."

"A tent? You mean, someone's inside it?"

The possibility of meeting up with another homo sapian certainly added some energy to Meredith's already 'eccentric' state.

"I think so…" Sylvia responds, albeit not so strongly since she was partially doubtful of what could be inside the apparently big tent that could most probably fit about 3 people in it.

 _A group of campers maybe?_

But wait, who the heck would camp in a place like Viridian Forest?!

"Let's check it out Sylvia," Meredith meekly suggested.

"I guess we could," Sylvia replied. "I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"

"A man with a knife slitting our heads open?"

Sylvia nods at Meredith's opinion.

"Yup, something like that."

 _*shiver*_

A shiver run down their spine when the two girls imagine a tall and mysterious with a shiny object in his hand and a gleaming look in his eyes that appear to be blood red.

"Let's just lie beside the tent for now, okay Sylvy?"

"Yeah. I think that'd be the best option-."

"Yeah. Let's just lie against that tree for now," Meredith tells Sylvia, pointing towards an oakwood tree that was close to the tent.

Sylvia nodded before giving her response. "Okay. That'd be good."

* * *

Aeris woke up right before midnight. He had to go to the washroom, and since they were sleeping inside a tent, he had to unzip the entrance before exiting.

For a while, nothing happened.

Aeris marched forward and did his deed on a bush before zipping his pajamas and heading back.

On the way however, he saw two familiar faces lying against a tree with the shorter one's head falling on the lap of the one with the long, silver hair.

" _Eh? These two? Their names are Sylvia and Meredith if I'm correct. What are they doing here?"_

With no answer to his apparent question, Aeris went closer to the two and bent down to confirm his suspicion.

" _Yup. Definitely those two."_

What were they doing there though, was still a question for the unknowing Aeris?

Aeris noticed how the two were constantly shivering in their sleeps and how their clothes were starting to get dirtier with each of their movements.

 _*sigh*_

" _These guys are so damn hopeless."_

Aeris decided that he'd play the good guy for now.

He calmly picked up both Sylvia and Meredith before carrying them one by one inside his tent.

It was easy to carry them though.

Meredith wasn't much heavy, and the other one was practically weightless- made Aeris wonder if Sylvia even eats anything at all.

A girl's weight wasn't any of his concerns right now though.

For now, he had to figure out where to sleep for the night.

With two girls inside the tent, it'd be impossible for Aeris to sleep- he had an idea of how cranky girls could get when they sleep.

 _*sigh*_

"Guess I'll sleep outside for now," is what Aeris mutters at long last before carrying a pillow and a spare blanket- the first one having been wrapped around Sylvia, Meredith, and Pikachu- and getting out of the tent.

A comfortable night of sleep was waiting ahead for the adventurous Aeris, a very comfortable one indeed…


	5. Chapter 5- Amateur Stuff

It was a new day in Viridian Forest. The Pidgeys were chirping, the sun was shining out on the distant land, and the previous uncertainities welling up on the people in Viridian Forest seems to have cleared up.

However, among them, a certain airhead had woken up with a significant sigh, and confused eyes of emblazement and misposition.

"Wh-?"

Meredith looks around, immediately spotting what was wrong.

Why was she in a tent? Weren't she and Sylvia sleeping out last night? And, why does she feel so freakishly warm on the tummy?

Wait-

"Where am I?"

Is the first thing she asks herself.

"And, why is there this bloody blanket? I hate blankets!"

Not one of the things to be concerned about right now, but well... It's Meredith after all.

"What's wrong Meredith? Why are you screaming?"

"Huh?"

Apparently, the pretty refreshed silver-head was also awake by now.

Mostly due to Meredith's loud voice, that is...

"Oh. Sylvia, you're here too?"

"What do you mean by here too?"

She looks around to notice the difference in last night's condition of living, and this morning's condition of living- yup, a pretty big difference.

"Uh? Where are we?"

"That's supposed to be my line." Itching her tummy, Meredith exclaims to Sylvia.

"Ugh! What's this?!"

Without warning, Meredith grabs the fluffy thing which was stuck to her stomach and takes it out from the blanket.

What came out was a yellow rodent that was sleeping peacefully- unaware that two pairs of uncanny eyes were staring at it.

Wouldn't want to wake up at this point...

"Uh. A Pikachu? What's it doing here?" Sylvia thinks out aloud.

Much to her friend's astonishment, Meredith attempts to take control of the situation and tries to pinch Pikachu's cheeks in order to waken it.

"What are you doing Mer?"

"I'm trying to wake it up. I think it can lead us to something."

 _Spark._

Something yellow came off Pikachu's cheeks, but it was very transient to identify.

"I think you should stop that," Sylvia warns Meredith, getting a hunch of a pending disaster.

"Don't worry nothing will-."

Too late.

As soon as Sylvia tried to snatch Meredith's arms from the electric rodent, Pikachu jolted awake and angrily sparked its cheeks.

"Pikka!"

With eyes of frustration, and limbs of exhaustion, Pikachu glared at the two petrified girls before launching full assault and paralyzing them in its electricity.

"Pikachu!"

* * *

After a while, things slowed down.

Pikachu rested its electricity and took the time to calmly analyze the situation and spare the two girls off its unanimous gaze.

Again, Sylvia was confused as to why she and Meredith were being treated like prisoners in front of a little yellow fluffy mouse.

"Um, Pikachu, listen to us. We don't mean any harm, you know?"

Meredith tried to reason with the mouse.

"We're actually just as confused as you. We don't have any idea why we're in this place in the first place."

"Pika pika."

The electric rodent nodded in understanding.

So, they weren't criminals who were trying to take him away from his trainer.

"Glad to see you understand Pikachu."

"Well, that's all fine and all, but the question still remains- why are we here?"

"Hmm." Meredith thinks herself for a bit. The situation was totally confusing. They were just sleeping out on the grass last night, now they have no idea as to why they're here, and having to reason with a yellow rodent.

"Pikka."

Pikachu clicked its tongues and made a face of realization. It seemed as if something clicked in his mind.

"Pika pika."

It made a gesture for Meredith and Sylvia to follow it before Pikachu got to its four toes and ran out of the tent.

The two girls made a rush to fix their clothes before hurrying out of the tent and behind Pikachu.

Pikachu smelt its way to a nearby place where somebody in a cotton blanket was sleeping over a log.

Pikachu jumped on top of the blanket before trying to shake the sullen body.

"Um, who's this now?"

"No idea," Sylvia responds, shaking her head.

Pikachu keeps on shaking the blanket, but the person appears to have no reaction.

Finally, getting frustrated, Pikachu jumps down on the ground and flares its cheeks.

Sylvia and Meredith's eyes widen in shock and realization.

"Pikachu!"

With one massive thundershock, the sleeping body was shocked awake with sparks being emitted from said person.

"Ah! Pikachu!"

Aeris woke up, drowsy and shocked, and immediately put his arms in front of him for protection.

"I'm awake. I'm awake. No need to shock me anymore."

"Pika pika pikachu!"

"Um..."

Meredith breaks their tantrum, drawing both the electric mouse and its trainer's attention to the two girls in waiting.

Too much has happened for a morning...

"Ah! You're _that_ guy," Sylvia exclaims, remembering Aeris from his battle against Stephan. " _The_ guy with the Pikachu."

"I have a name you know," Aeris proclaims, with an initial sigh. "It's Aeris Blackwood."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Your name isn't the point here!" Another woman enters the scene, Meredith Blakey to be exact. "What's wrong is the fact of how we ended up in that tent with your Pikachu!"

"Oh. That tent's mine," Aeris informs her. "I carried you two in there last night."

"You- what?!"

"You two were out in the cold last night, so I thought I'd let you stay in my tent..."

"Oh, so that's what happened..."

Meredith finally calms down, satisfied with the explanation.

Aeris was a nice guy, she thought. Normally, people wouldn't give two pennies. However...

"Wait, you carried us inside?"

"Yeah. Is that a big deal?"

"Of course, it is, nitwick! A boy touching two innocent girls is a really big deal! God knows what you did with us last night?!"

Meredith shivers. Thoughts of the lecherous things Aeris could've done to her and Sylvia comes on her mind.

"I didn't do anything. Stop making it sound as if I'm the criminal here. Besides, I let you guys have my tent while I slept outside in the cold!"

Truth.

That made Meredith reconsider.

Normally, people wouldn't be as good-minded.

Also, she should be thankful that the person last night was Aeris and not some creeps.

"Well, whatever..." She proclaims nonchalantly, though feeling grateful on the inside.

"Are you bipolar?"

Aeris asks sarcastically.

That earned him a smack.

* * *

Aeris was muching on a chicken sandwich and Pikachu was gulping his favourite electric-flavoured pokefood while the two girls watched them like hungry stray cats.

Yup, it was morning, and both of them had no food with them.

"What?" Aeris asks them finally.

"We're hungry," came Meredith's reply.

"Not my worries..." Aeris claims before taking the final bite of his sandwich and getting up to sling his bag around his shoulder. "Let's go Pikachu. We have to reach Pewter by today."

"Pikka."

Ignoring the two helpless girls, the ignorant trainer and his Pikachu quietly started walking down the road.

However, it seems that it wasn't as easy to get rid of the two girls.

After a while of talking, and being followed, Aeris snapped at the two out of irritation.

"Can you please stop following me like some lost puppies?!"

"You're mean!" Meredith exclaims. "Who would leave two beautiful maidens like us in the middle of this forest?"

"Are you for real?"

 _*Growl*_

And there goes Sylvia and Meredith's grumbling stomach.

"See, we're hungry."

"So, what'll I do?"

"Give us something to eat!" Meredith barks, almost like an order.

"Like I said, that's none of my concerns. You two should've brought your own food with you. What're you, babies? That's the basics of being a trainer."

"Please." Sylvia participates in the 'begging'. "We're really hungry, Aeris."

 _*Sigh*_

Aeris sighs before giving up and listening to their demands.

"Fine, I got it."

He reveals a pokebalk from his belt before throwing it high on the air.

Light flashes from the pokeball before materializing into the Poison Pin pokemon, Nidoran.

"Nidoran, can you grab those two some berries from the trees?"

Nidoran nods at its trainer before rushing off towards a nearby tree. It climbs the bark in a rush before jumping on a branch and using its horns to jerk off some purple colored berries.

The berries started shaking before their contact to the branch was torn off and they dropped to the ground.

But before they could make contact with the ground, Nidoran jumped from the branch and grabbed the berries using its mouth.

It gave two of the berries to Sylvia, and two of the remaining to Meredith before returning back to its trainer's side.

"Good job Nidoran," Aeris praises, patting Nidoran's head before returning it back to its pokeball and turning to the two girls. "Eat. Those are Oran Berries."

Without waiting any further, the two girls immediately dug into the Oran berries and started nibbling quietly at them.

"These are so good!" Meredith commented while chewing on the purple berry.

Aeris glanced at them for a few seconds and sighed before turning heels.

"Guess I'll be continuing my journey," he muttered, Pikachu taking the initiative and trailing behind him.

 _Half an hour later..._

What is irritation?

Is it a form of anger?

Is it something you feel when you're annoyed?

Doesn't matter.

But for Aeris, 'irritation' was the best word right now to describe his feelings towards a certain pair of girls who were following him like creeps.

"When in the world will you two stop following me?" Aeris snaps, while folding the map in his hand and stuffing it inside his pocket.

"Pika pika pi." The electric rodent protested along with its trainer.

"It's not our fault that we're lost!" Meredith says. "Besides, you even have a map..."

"He-Hey, calm down Mer. Let's just ask him politely."

"I know, alright. You don't have to tell me!" Meredith surprisingly scolds Sylvia before turning her glare at Aeris. "We're lost, so can you help us?" she asks him with a haughty voice before returning her gaze back to Sylvia. "There. I said it."

"Was that supposed to be a request?" Aeris fires back at her.

"Um, can you _please_ help us, Aeris?" Sylvia ends up asking him, giving Aeris the 'puppy' eyes. "It'll only be this once. We'll be out of your sight as soon as we reach Pewter."

 _*sigh*_

"Fine. I get it. But-." He stops midway, raising his hand midway. "I want you two out of my eyes as soon as we reach Pewter."

"We understand," Sylvia nods obediently, pinching Meredith sideways. "Don't we, Mer?"

"Pfft."

A scoff is what Aeris has to receive from Meredith for now.

* * *

"Are we there yet?"

"No, we're not."

 _Silence._

"Are we there yet?"

"NO! We're not!"

 _Silence._

"Are we-."

"Can you please shut up?!" Aeris, out of frustration, finally barks at Meredith while Sylvia watches silently from aside. "You've been asking that same, stupid thing for God knows how long! And again- No! We're not there. For God's sake, I'm human, not Pokemon. I can't teleport you to Pewter!"

Well, _she_ had that coming.

This time, instead of countering, Meredith keeps quiet and follows behind Aeris when they all start walking again.

Guess she crossed the limit for now...

"Damn annoyance...!" Aeris mutters before turning back to the road.

As soon as he turned his head however, his eyes soon became focused on a certain species of bird that could be found commonly in Kanto.

"What's that?"

"That's a Pidgey," Aeris answers Sylvia, pulling out his Pokedex.

 _"Pidgey, the Tiny Bird Pokemon. A Normal and Flying type._

 _Pidgeys prefer to fly in flocks than alone. Calm and quiet, Pidgeys serve as the foothold of new trainers since they are easy to catch and train."_

"Wanna try catching?" Aeris offers her.

"Huh? Me?"

"Yeah," Aeris nods. "Do you have any pokemon other then Fennekin?"

"No, I guess."

"You should catch it then. I already caught two pokemon, so I'm good. It's better to have as much Pokemons as you can in a journey."

"I'll catch it!" Meredith intervenes them, having already taken out her pokeball. "Hey, Sylvy! Can I catch it? Please?"

"Sure," Sylvia says, and Meredith jumps up with an excited 'YES' before getting into position.

Aeris narrows his eyes at Meredith while she reveals her Charmander, the Fire type starter pokemon which she received from Professor Oak.

"Let's go Charmander!"

"Char!"

"Let's start with Growl Charmander!"

"Char!" Charmander grips its foot onto the ground before releasing a frightening cry from its mouth, a cry that makes the Pidgey cower in fear. "Charmander!"

"Okay, good! Now use Ember!"

"Char!" Charmander opens its mouth, and a resulting flame starts gathering on its tongue. "Char!" The fire is released onto Pidgey in a small ember. "Charmander!"

The Pidgey retaliates by digging its feet onto the ground and spraying dirt on the fire, effectively putting out the Ember.

As soon as it did that, Pidgey flaps its wings and flies high into the air before diving down at Charmander with a glowing beak.

"Pidge! Pidgey!"

With a rapid increase in speed, Pidgey pecks Charmander on the shoulder.

"Char!" The Flame pokemon cries in pain as Pidgey hardens its beak on Charmander.

"Don't let up Charmander. Use Scratch, now that its near!"

Charmander listens to its trainer and sharpens its nails before delivering two critical slashes on Pidgey's wings.

"Pidgey!" Pidgey's contact with Charmander is broken as the force of the Scratch attack causes it to fling back in pain.

"Now's the time, Meredith!" Aeris tells her. "Use your pokeball."

Meredith nods before taking out a spare pokeball and throwing it at Pidgey.

"Pokeball, do your trick!"

While in air, the pokeball hits Pidgey's wings, and opens before a bright red light shoots out that traps the Pidgey inside the pokeball.

 _One shake._

 _Two shake._

 _Three shake._

 _Four shake._

 _Five shake._

 **TING!**

"Alright!" Meredith squeals as soon as the 'TING' sound of a successful capture along with a while glow flashes from the pokeball. "I caught a Pidgey!"

While Meredith started celebrating along with her Charmander, Aeris scoffs at her from the sidelines.

"Heh. Amateur stuff."

"You say that, but you still helped her in the end," Sylvia comments on how Aeris told Meredith to throw the pokeball at the right moment.

"I did not!" Aeris argues like a child. "A-Anyways, we should get going. At this rate, we'll be stuck in this place for another day."

"Avoiding the topic, are we?" Sylvia cheekily says, causing Aeris to fluster and turn his head.

"Damn annoyance..."


	6. Chapter 6- Buzz Off!

_International Police Headquarters, Kanto Branch, Cerulean City..._

A tall woman wearing business clothing was addressing herself to another tall, and slim man who was wearing a brown overcoat over a black t-shirt, and yellow orchid pants.

 _ **International Police, Chief Inspector, Codename: Looker.**_

"Detective Looker."

"Present," the detective announced with a salute. "What's the situation ma'am?"

The woman glanced at her clipboard and clicked her tongue out of anxiety before informing Looker.

"There's been criminal activity spotted in Mt. Moon which lies between Pewter City and Cerulean City. We'd like you to investigate it."

"Yes ma'am," Looker replied respectively. "Any details ma'am?"

"Yes," the woman nodded before walking over towards a computer in a room. "Come over here."

Looker obeyed his superior's commamd before standing beside her as a video started playing on the computer monitor.

The video, in description, was of an innermost parts of a cave, where a handful of people dressed in black clothing with an 'R' symbol of red on their t-shirt were controlling drills and digging parts of the cave.

"One of our spies have recorded this video," the woman informs Looker. "As you can see, a group of people are trying to find something by digging into Mr. Moon."

"Find something?"

"Yes. Our experts suggest that what this group is doing is trying to extract moon stones from the soil of Mt. Moon. As you know, Mt. Moon is one of the well-known place for the extraction of moon stones, and probably the best in Kanto. However, this group is attempting to illegally extract the Moon stones for their own benefit."

"Understood ma'am."

"Good, you can go off to your duty now "

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

Meredith, Sylvia, and Aeris were still inside Viridian Forest. They had travelled about a mile since they started this morning. However, the end of the Forest still didn't look in sight for them.

"Oh! Aeris! How much longer do we have to walk? My legs are hurting!"

Aeris sighs before turning to Sylvia. "Could you please tell your annoying friend to shut up?"

"Hey! That's rude."

"And also tell her to scotch tape her mouth, if possible."

"Pika pika," Pikachu nods along with its trainer.

Sylvia sweatdrops. She has been put into this drama for a while now. Meredith and Aeris, they _have_ been bickering like a married couple.

"Hey, what's that?" Sylvia says all of a sudden, causing the other two and Pikachu to turn their heads.

In front of them were a whole bunch of cacoons, along with what looked like a hive in the middle of the tree.

"Is this a bee hive?"

"Bee hive?!" Meredith perks up at Sylvia's words. "Then that means there must be honey."

"Uh. Well, I guess so..." Aeris was wary of the fact that there could be danger. However, before he could say anything more, Meredith ran off in a flash and started shaking the hive.

For a while, nothing happened.

Not until a big, yellow creature with black stripes and red eyes along with needle-like arms appeared in front of them.

"Bzz!" The creature snarled at them before pulling back its needles.

"Ah! Let's get out of here," Aeris calls out, before he and Pikachu run for their lives with Meredith, Sylvia, and the creature running after them.

"What the hell is that thing?!" Meredith shouts out as Aeris takes out his Pokedex in the middle of all the running.

 _"Beedrill, the Poison Bee Pokémon. A Bug and Poison type._

 _Beedrill fly quickly and attack using poison stingers on their forelegs and tail."_

"You mean, it attacks with those needles?"

"So, it seems," Sylvia answers Meredith as she pulls away the stray strands of her silver locks while running for her life.

"Next time, we're gonna wrap you with a tissue paper so you stay still," Aeris tells Meredith who immediately starts protesting.

"Hey! It's not my fault that there was something like _that_ on the tree."

"No, Mer. I actually agree with him on that one."

"Not you too, Sylvy!"

* * *

Sylvia, Meredith, Aeris, and Pikachu were all breathless after running for so long. As it seemed, it looked like they had lost the Beedrill after such a long and tiring chase.

" _*pant*_ Did we lose it?" Sylvia asks.

"I guess we did _*pant*_ ," Aeris replies while panting.

"Oh my God! That was so creepy! I'd never want to do anything like that again."

Meredith earned an eye roll from Aeris for that.

"Next time, you're gonna be in a sack."

"Huh? What? Why?"

"Damn annoyance..." Aeris mutters as Pikachu climbs up its trainer's shoulder, resting its body.

"Anyways, where are we?" Sylvia asks, to which Aeris shrugs his shoulders.

"I've got no idea. We've been running non-stop for quite a while, and with the Beedrill behind us, I lost track of oir route."

"Oh man!" Meredith pouts while walking towards a tree and placing her hands on the trunk. "At least, I have this tree."

The next thing she knew was that the ground below her started shaking before she was carried up by a met, being caught in it.

"What the-." Aeris was pretty shocked to be honest, since the irony was too hard to believe.

"Ah! Help me!"

"What just happened right now?" Sylvia asks Aeris, to which he shakes his head.

"Frankly, I've got no idea about it."

"Hey! What are you guys doing in my place?"

A sudden voice interrupted them as everyone turned heads to notice a boy older then them in a cotton shirt, shorts, and a straw hat on his head.

"Uh. Who are you?" Sylvia asks him.

"I'm Jackson. And right now, you guys are standing over my area."

"Your area?" Aeris questions, to which Jackson nods his head.

"Yes, this is my area. Didn't you see the sign over there?"

The sign Jackson was talking about was at the far corner of the place. Although Aeris and the others _did_ passed through it, they were too busy with the Beedrill running behind them to notice.

"Oh. Sorry. We were in a hurry, so we might've not noticed," Sylvia quickly apologised, trying to avoid conflict.

"It's okay, but you guys shouldn't enter someone else's property like that."

"We're really sorry about that," Sylvia apologised yet again.

"Like I said, it's fine." Jackson tells them. "Besides, it seems like you guys are lost."

"Yeah, we actually _are_ lost," Aeris acknowledges his words. "Could you help us get to Pewter?"

"Sure I can," Jackson replied with a smug smirk. "I know Viridian Forest like the palm of my hands."

"That would be great," Sylvia squeals in delight. The prospect of getting out of this place was something she really hoped for.

"Hey! Have you guys forgotten about me? I'm still stuck up here."

* * *

"Here," Jackson gestured to them an open road with no bushes, or trees. "This way leads to Pewter City. It's an hour's walk from here."

"Ah! Finally, I'll be able to get rid of this horrid place!" Meredith moans, getting her goal achieved at last.

"Thanks for your help Jack-."

Before Sylvia could thank him, Aeris cut her off.

"Hey. Before we go, do you know anything about the bug catcher that's supposed to live here?"

"A bug catcher?" Sylvia questions.

"Yes," Aeris nods, "Before I met you guys, I had a battle with someone who told me that there's a very strong trainer here in Viridian Forest who uses bug-type pokemons."

"Someone that strong lives in this place?!" It was unbelievable for Meredith who was more than hating this place.

"You must be talking about me!" Jackson tells Aeris, rubbing his nose. "I'm Jackson the bug catcher, and I'm the very strongest you'll get in Viridian Forest."

"Wait, _you're_ the strong trainer?!" Too much surprises for Meredith in one day.

Aeris on the other hand, smirks in delight. A very pleasant surprise for him indeed.

"Cool. Then, I want a battle."

"Hoh-hoh! A battle with bug catcher Jackson! I'm thoroughly delighted."

* * *

Aeris and Bug Catcher Jackson settled with a two-on-two battle as Meredith and Sylvia watched from aside.

The first pokemon for Aeris to go with was Nidoran, while for Bug Catcher Jackson, it was-

"Kakuna, let's go!"

Aeris immediately identified the pokemon as the cacoons that were hanging off the tree where they met the Beedrill.

He looked at his Pokedex for further information.

 _"Kakuna, the Cocoon Pokemon, and the pre-evolved form of Beedrill. A bug type._

 _Kakunas lay inactive, hanging off the branches of trees before they evolve and turn into powerful Beedrills."_

"So, that's a Kakuna."

"Cool, we'll attack first then," Aeris said before he flicked his wrist. "Nidoran, use Tackle."

Nidoran dug its feet into the ground and sprayed behind some dust before charging at the Cocoon pokemon.

Bug Catcher Jackson smirks.

"Harden, Kakuna!"

Kakuna's body glowed momentarily as Nidoran crashed into it. Turns out, Kakuna was as hard as a rock with little to no damage taken.

"Huh? What just happened?" Meredith asks Sylvia.

"Harden is a move that raises a pokemon's defence stats. Which means that Nidoran's attack didn't do much to Kakuna."

"So, _that's_ Harden," Aeris says in excitement, seeing it for the first time in real life. "Then, we'll do this- Nidoran! Use Poison Sting!"

"Nidooo!" Nidoran's horn glowed purple before it dashed towards Kakuna.

"Use Tackle Kakuna!"

Kakuna started its own march towards Nidoran.

Both pokemon locked heads. Nidoran was able to penetrate through Kakuna's defense and deliver a critical hit, causing the latter to flung back out and on a tree.

"No! Kakuna!"

"Alright! Nice job, Nidoran!"

"Nidoooo!"

Jackson sighed and returned his pokemon, muttering words of encouragement to its pokeball before throwing another pokeball which revealed a pokemon that was very familiar to Aeris, Sylvia, Meredith, and Pikachu.

"Bzz!"

"Ah! It's that pokemon again," Sylvia announced while Meredith facepalms and cowers behind her.

"Why are there so many Beedrills in this Forest?!"

"A Beedrill, huh? This should be interesting." Aeris smirks while calling out to his Pokemon. "You ready for a battle Nidoran?"

Nidoran grunts and blows its nose, signalling its trainer that it was ready for what was to come.

"Alright then, let's start with Poison Sting!"

"Nidooo!"

Nidoran's horn glows purple yet again as it jumps and skips towards its enemy.

"Fury Attack Beedrill!"

Beedrill's eyes turn deep red as rage and anger decapicates its body.

As enraged as a rhinocerous, Beedrill started pulling its needles back before attempting to strike Nidoran with it.

"Bzz!"

"Nidoo!" The first attack, Nidoran was able to dodge smoothly by jumping to its right.

"Bzz!"

"Nidooo!"

Nidoran was successful in dodging the second one too, albeit barely.

"Bzzzzzzzz!" With more fury then ever before, Beedrill stretches its right arm before hitting Nidoran right in the face.

"Nidoooo!"

"Don't give up Nidoran! Now's the chance. Use Poison Sting up close and aim for its belly."

"Nidoo!"

Nidoran endured the pain before jumping and pushing its horn right in the middle of Beedrill's belly.

"Bzzz!"

"Nidooooooo!"

Nidoran screams as it forces all of its power on its horn.

"Go for it, Nidoran!" Sylvia started cheering too, Meredith joining soon after as the Poison Pin pokemon finally did the deed and smashed Beedrill into the ground, eventually landing victorious on the ground.

"Nidoooooo!"

"Alright!"

* * *

"Ah! Finally! Pewter City!" Meredith was in tears right now. She couldn't express how delighted she was to reach their destination.

"Yay! We're here!" Sylvia joined in the celebration.

"Well, that's it for me," Aeris says as he stretches his arms. "My job was to get you guys here in Pewter. I guess, it's goodbye for now."

"Aw! I really enjoyed our time though," Sylvia pouts. "Ain't that right, Mer?"

"Like hell!" Meredith stucks out her tongue at Aeris, though he had already turned hus back and was walking the opposite way with his hands in his pockets.

"Eh? He's gone?"

Although she'd never admit it, Meredith in realitt _was_ quite saddened by the seperation.

Sylvia smiles at her friend before shouting out to Aeris. "Goodbye Aeris, goodbye Pikachu!"

"Pika pika!" Pikachu responded to Sylvia's farewell, though Aeris seemed unlikely to do anything.

In the end though, he did raise his arms and waved back though he didn't turn his face to see them.

"Guess, he really was annoyed by us..." Sylvia mutters as a final response.


	7. Chapter 7- A Rocky Start

Nurse Joy, as loving as she was, took great care in healing Aeris's pokemons before returning the two pokeballs and Pikachu back to him on a tray.

"Here you go Aeris, your pokemons are fine and healthy."

"Thank you Nurse Joy," Aeris says before retrieving his pokeballs and attatching them onto his belt while Pikachu jumped on his shoulders.

He was soon about to leave. But, on second thought, he didn't.

"Hey, Nurse Joy, I was just wondering, but do you know the way to the Pokemon Gym?"

Nurse Joy raised her eyesbrows out of curiousity. "Are you a challenger?"

"Yup," Aeris nods. "I'm from Pallet Town, and it's going to be my first gym battle."

"Oh, I see. In that case, the gym will be right around the corner if you take two turns directly from this road."

"Thank You, Nurse Joy," Aeris thanked, and quickly fixed his jacket before hurrying on towards the Pewter City Gym.

On the way, since he was running without control, Aeris bumped into someone.

"Sorry," Aeris apologized, and looked up, only to meet with the eyes of his childhood friend and long-time rival. "Gary."

"Yo, Aeris, fancy meeting you here."

"Uh, huh," Aeris nods. Its weird really. Its been a while since the both of them left Pallet Town and has seen each other. Before, they were so used to seeing each other every day. But now, they seldom talk due to each being in their different roads.

"You gonna challenge the gym?"

"Yup," Aeris nods his heads.

"Cool. I already finished mine," Gary says before he reaches out to his pocket and grab his badge case before showing it to Aeris. The shiny rock-like octagon was in display for everyone. "Here's the Boulder Badge. It's proof for beating the Pewter City gym leader. You can't get into the league without these."

"Awesome!" Aeris and Pikachu's eyes were literally twinkling in awe. "So, that's what a gym badge looks like!"

Gary immediately closed his badge case and returned it back to his pocket afterwards. "Well, that's all there is, Aeris. I'm heading to Cerulean City next. Make sure you get your own badge and then catch up with me. It'd be boring if there wasn't anyone to match my awesomeness!"

"Hah!" Aeris scoffs at him. "As if I'd let you get ahead of me. You just wait and watch, I'll be taking the lead in no time."

"We'll see about that," Gary tells him and nods his head before stuffing his hands inside his pockets and walking away. "Smell ya later, Aeris, Pikachu."

"You too Gary."

"Pika pika!"

* * *

The Pewter City Gym was a Rock-type gym. As such, the gym's exterior was covered with designs of pebbles and boulders with the sign 'Pewter City Gym' on its head.

Aeris took a deep breathe before clenching his fists. "Here we go Pikachu. It's our first Gym battle."

"Pika pika!"

Aeris grabbed the handle of the Gym's door before pulling it open, meeting with nothing but darkness.

"Hello! Is anyone here?" Aeris calls out.

"Pika pika!"

"I'm Aeris Blackwood from Pallet Town, and I'm here to challenge the gym leader."

"I see, so you're here to take on the gym battle, then."

A sudden, hoarse voice causes Aeris to turn around and look for the source. However, at that moment, the lights of the gym lit up and there was bright light shining from everywhere, illuminating the gym's interior.

Aeris noticed that there was a young man standing opposite of him. His hair was spiky olive, and his skin was tanned. He was wearing a brown t-shirt underneath a cut-open vest jacket, and dark olive pants.

"Are you the gym leader?"

The man nodded with his arms crossed. "Yes. I'm Brock, and I'm the leader of the Pewter City gym."

"Cool. I want a gym battle, then."

"Is this your first gym challenge?" Brock asks him out of curiosity.

"Yeah," Aeris answers. "I'm a new trainer, and I just received Pikachu from Professor Oak a while back."

"I see," Brock holds his hand to his chin and thinks deeply for a moment before turning his gaze back to Aeris. "Well then, I think we should commence with the Gym battle."

"Alright!"

A man in yellow t-shirt and black shorts with a flag in hand immediately entered the gym room in that moment.

"Uh. That's the referee, I guess..." Aeris says as Pikachu nods from his shoulder.

"This is going to be a two-on-two gym battle between the Pewter City gym leader Brock, and Aeris Blackwood from Pallet Town. Only the challenger is allowed to substitute their pokemon. The winner will be decided when either side's pokemons are unable to battle."

Aeris was in complete awe, as this was his first time seeing an official referee in real life.

"May the challenger bring out his pokemon." The referee commended.

"Oh, yes," He had almost forgotten that he had to bring out his pokemon. After a moment of thinking, Aeris decided to smile at the pokemon sitting on his shoulder.

"Hey, Pikachu. Since this is our first gym battle, I want you to be my first pokemon. Why don't we take the first step together, buddy?"

"Pika pika!" Pikachu responded as it jumped down from Aeris's shoulder and into the battlefield.

"A Pikachu, huh? Very well then, I'll go with this pokemon." Gym leader Brock presented a pokeball before throwing it at the battlefield. The pokemon opened up to reveal a pokemon that was shaped like a boulder with strong, muscly, rocky arms.

Aeris brought out his Pokedex.

 _Geodude, the Rock Pokémon. A Rock and Ground Type,_

 _Geodude has incredibly high defensive power, making it virtually resistant to any physical attacks._

"I see, so that's a Geodude."

"Geoooo!"

"Alright then Pikachu, let's start with Quick Attack!"

"Pikka!" Pikachu jumped forward as a white light trailed behind it before dashing towards Geodude.

Brock smirked at the action.

Eventually, Pikachu hit Geodude, however, the rock pokemon did not seem to even have a scratch.

"Wh-what happened?"

"Pika pika?"

"Geodude is a rock type pokemon Aeris. Attacks like Quick Attack won't do much to it."

"Ugh! Okay then Pikachu, use Electro Ball."

"Pika pika pika pika!" Pikachu jumped high as the ball of electricity started rotating on its tail. "Pikachu!" The electro ball was released towards Geodude. And, as it crashed onto it, the attack was rendered ineffective with absolutely nothing happening except of the gathering of dust around the rock pokemon.

"Electric type attacks don't do anything to a ground-type like Geodude, Aeris."

Aeris clenched his fists. Of course, he knew that. However, he still believed that it would do at least _something._

It was then that Brock decided to attack.

"Geodude, Rock Smash!"

"Geooooo!" Geodude's hand glowed white before the rock pokemon tumbled towards Pikachu and delivered a solid rock punch to its cheek.

"Pikaaaaa!"

"Ugh! Shit! Damn it!"

Aeris was in a real pinch. He didn't know what to do. Only two of his Pikachu's attacks would work now. And, one of them would do almost nothing. It was then that a strategy entered his mind.

"Alright Pikachu, go with Tail Whip."

Brock was slightly confused. As such, he let Pikachu run towards the rock pokemon, and let it smack Geodude a few times with its tail.

"It's useless. Tail Whip doesn't do any damage."

"I know. But, it _can_ lower Geodude's defense," Aeris says with a confident smirk before commanding Pikachu to perform a Quick Attack.

Much to Brock's surprise, Pikachu ran towards Geodude and smacked heads before smashing the rock pokemon into the wall of the gym.

"Alright!"

"Geodude is unable to battle," the referee announced as Brock returned his pokemon before glancing at Aeris who was celebrating with Pikachu.

"Interesting, it's not everyday that I see trainers like him," he thinks before smirking and revealing his next pokemon. "Let's see how you deal with this one, Aeris."

What came out of Brock's pokeball was a large, giant snake that was about 30 feet tall and had a body which was of boulders.

"Woah! What is _that?"_

* * *

Meredith and Sylvia were resting on the sofas of the Pokemon Centre when they spotted someone familiar with blonde hair and brown eyes entering through the sliding doors.

"Stephan!" Sylvia called, out of surprise, as the blonde turned heads to meet the gaze of Sylvia and Meredith.

"Woah! What are _you_ guys doing here?"

"It's surprising to see you here, Stephan," Sylvia says, eyes gleaming with joy.

"Yeah, we like, _totally_ didn't expect to see you here. It's been a while," Meredith exclaims.

"So, I see that you guys were able to pass through Viridian Forrest."

At the sound of Viridan Forrest, Meredith sighs in agony.

"Ugh! Don't remind me. That place is horrible, I'm never going there again."

"Good thing we had Aeris with us."

At Sylvia's statement, Stephan raised his eyes in suspicion. "Aeris?"

"Yeah, Aeris Blackwood, he's the one you battled back in Pallet."

"Oh, that Aeris."

Aeris's memory was ingrained in Stephan's brain. He'd been winning it all his life. Finally, when he's tasted defeat, he swore to get revenge on Aeris.

"Is he with you guys now?"

"Nope," Sylvia shakes her head. "I think he's challenging the gym."

"Okay," Stephan. "I think I'm gonna head to the Gym for now."

"Ugh! Don't tell me you're planning to meet him."

That was the last thing Meredith wanted to hear. More like, it'd actually be really weird if they see Aeris again after saying such an _*ahem*_ emotional farewell.

* * *

 _"Onix, the Rock Snake pokemon. A rock and ground type._

 _It tunnels through the ground which shakes when it raises its thunderous roar. It can move the ground atfifty milesper hour."_

Aeris's Pokedex read, at the giant snake in front of them.

"Woah! That pokemon is so big!"

"Let the battle continue," the referee spoke and slid down his flag before the match between gym leader Brock and Aeris resumed.

"Alright Pikachu! We'll have to be a little tricky with this one. So, let's start with Quick Attack!"

"Pikka!"

"What is he planning _now?"_ Brock muttered as he saw Pikachu charging towards Onix.

As expected, when Pikachu collided with one of the giant rocks that made Onix's body, the Quick Attack did little to no damage. It was as if Onix was just scratched.

"Use Tail Whip now Pikachu!" Aeris commanded, and Pikachu jumped up on the ground before slapping Onix on the face with its tail.

Onix was enraged, and a little bit humiliated to see that a little mouse was ruining its face. However, since Brock kept patient and was observing rather then countering, Onix kept still and let Pikachu do all the slapping it could to Onix's face.

At one point though, Brock _did_ give a command.

"Alright Onix, we had enough! Give em a shot of your Rock Tomb."

"ONIX!"

Onix flapped its tail on the ground before swinging it onwards at Pikachu, causing boulders to appear out of nowhere with their direction being Pikachu.

"Pikachu use Electro Ball!"

"Pikka!" Pikachu jumped up as the ball of electricity started rotating on top of its tail. "Chuuu!" Pikachu flung the electro ball at the incoming boulders, causing them to break into pebbles before returning back to Onix's direction.

Although the pebbles didn't do anything, Onix _did_ feel a certain twitch somewhere in its body, though it was too powerful to feel it clearly.

"Let's go Pikachu! Use Quick Attack once again!"

"Pika pika pika pika pika!" Pikachu ran towards Onix as a flash of white light trailed behind it. "Pikachu!" It smashed its head on Onix's body.

"Now Onix, use Wrap!" Brock commanded, and Onix instantly spread its tail before engulfing the little mouse with it.

"No! Pikachu!"

"Pikka!" Pikachu's face expressed distress as it tried to use its little hands to get out of Onix's grip.

"Come on Pikachu, you can do it!"

Brock saw Pikachu struggle for a while. Finally, he sighed and directed his gaze at Aeris.

"Enough is enough Aeris! You're Pikachu is at danger here. Don't you think it's best to recall it? The match isn't over yet, you know. You'll still have 1 more Pokemon."

Aeris clenched his fists. He saw Pikachu struggle, the little mouse struggling helplessly to remove the grip on its neck while Onix wrapped its tail tighter around the electric rodent.

"Alright!" Aeris exclaimed finally with a sigh. "Come back did well."

"Pikka?"

While Pikachu glanced at Aeris in confusion, Onix released its tail from Pilachu and let the little mouse walk towards its trainer.

"You did well, buddy, take a good rest," Aeeis said, and patted Pikachu's head before taking out a pokeball from his belt.

"You're the next one!" he exclaimed while throwing the pokeball. "Let's go get em Nidoran!"

"Nidooo!" The pokemon growled right after coming out of its pokeball.

"A Nidoran, huh?" Brock smirked while observing the pokemon that was drastically smaller then his Onix. "This should be interesting."

"Alright Nidoran, let's start with Poison Sting."

"Nidooo!"

"Onix use Rock Throw!"

"Oniiii!"

As Nidoran kept going towards Onix with its purple-glowing horn, the rock snake pokemon flapped its tail and made several boulders appear out of nowhere, disturbing Nidoran's path.

"Keep going while dodging them, Nidoran!"

"Nidooo!"

Nidoran increased its pace. It swiftly took sharp turns in order to avoid the incoming boulders.

Jumping left, jumping right, again jumping left, and again jumping right, Nidoran avoided all the oncoming rocks and landed in front of Onix before delivering a powerful blow of its horn to Onix.

"Oniiii!"

"Good job Nidoran!"

"Nidooo!" The pokemon growled. However, in all their celebration, both Aeris and Nidoran had failed to notice that Onix had already recovered from the attack and was now towering above Nidoran.

"Use Slam Onix!"

Onix raised its tail before slapping Nidoran hard on the cheeks.

The attack was so powerful, that not only Nidoran took serious damage, but it also flung on the air and back towards Aeris's side of the battlefield.

"Oh! No! Nidoran!"

"The battle is over," Brock stated boldly while smirking in delight. In truth, he felt like the battle was too easy. Pikachu was a challenge. However, it seems like all of Aeris's chance of winning went down with Pikachu. Nidoran seemed nothing but a dessert to Brock's victory.

"Nidooo!"

Nidoran's body was covered in bats and bruises. It tried to stand up on its forelimbs, but it fails to do so continuosly.

"Nidoran! You have to get up buddy! Come on!"

"Pika pikachu!"

"Nidooooo!"

Suddenly, taking both Brock and Aeris by surprise, Nidoran's skin started glowing.

"Wow!" Aeris exclaimed with sparkling eyes as he saw Nidoran turn into something different.

Its body shape turned larger, its limbs grew taller, its horn grew longer, and more sharper.

Amongs all that, it seemed as if Nidoran had become into something more powerful then before.

Aeris immediately took out his Pokedex to observe the new sudden change in Nidoran.

 _"Nidorino, the Poison Pin pokemon, and the evolved form of Nidoran. A Poison type._

 _Its highly developed horn is extremely powerful."_

"Awesome! So, you've evolved Nidoran!"

"Nidooo!" The newly-evolved Nidorino growled at its own trainer, as if angry at something, and Aeris seems to understand why.

"Oh. Sorry! It's Nidorino now."

"Nidoo!" It moaned happily before turning its gaze at Onix, a dangerous gleam to its eyes and a fury like never before.

Without even waiting for a command, Nidorino started charging towards Onix while its back legs started shining brightly.

"Awesome Nidorino, you learned Double Kick!"

"Get away from there Onix!" Brock commanded, sensing the danger.

Onix was about to move. However...

 _Twitch._

A part of Onix's rock-alligned body stopped from moving. On closer inspection, Brock noticed that a small pebble had stuck between the rocks that made up Onix's body.

His eyes widened upon realization. "It must be from that time when Pikachu..."

 _"Alright Onix, we had enough! Give em a shot of your Rock Tomb."_

 _"ONIX!"_

 _Onix flapped its tail on the ground before swinging it onwards at Pikachu, causing boulders to appear out of nowhere with their direction being Pikachu._

 _"Pikachu use Electro Ball!"_

 _"Pikka!" Pikachu jumped up as the ball of electricity started rotating on top of its tail. "Chuuu!" Pikachu flung the electro ball at the incoming boulders, causing them to break into pebbles before returning back to Onix's direction._

 _Although the pebbles didn't do anything, Onix did feel a certain twitch somewhere in its body, though it was too powerful to feel it clearly._

"Damn!" Brock clicked his tongue, and watched in frustration as Nidorino jumped from the ground before kicking one of Onix's rock with its left backleg, and propelling itself using the rocks to jump higher and use its right backleg to kick Onix on the head.

"Oniiii!" Onix groaned. The attack was super effective. It immediately received serious damage and failed to stand up before falling on the ground with its eyes shut close.

"Alright!"

"Onix is unable to battle," the referee announced. "Nidorino wins. Therefore, the winner of the Pewter City gym battle is Aeris Blackwood from Pallet Town."

"You did it Nidorino!"

"Nidoooo!" The poison pin pokemon roared in victory before returning to its trainer's side as Brock approached Aeris- he had already returned his Onix back to his pokeball.

"Well done, Aeris. It was a great battle."

"Thanks Brock," Aeris grinned. "But it's all because of my buddies."

"Of course," Brock agreed and smiled with his eyes closed. "Nothing is possible without your pokemon friends. After all, without them, I wouldn't be giving you this."

Brock handed Aeris a sparkly stone that had the shape of an octagon.

"Here's the proof of your victory Aeris- the Boulder Badge."

"Alright!" Aeris exclaimed before jumping and shouting out loud. "We got the Boulder Badge!"

"Pika pikachu!"

"Nidoooo!"

* * *

A while later in the Pewter gym...

Stephan opens the door of the Pewter City gym, only to be met with darkness as Meredith and Sylvia trails behind him.

"Hello. Is there anyone here?"

Suddenly, bright light flashed all across the room before illuminating the gym, revealing the battlefield and the gym leader.

"Welcome to the Pewter City Gym. You're another challenger, I presume?"

"Another?" Sylvia quirked his eyebrows.

"A challenger just passed by right now."

"A challenger?"

"Was his name Aeris Blackwood?" Stephan cut Meredith off.

"You know him?" Brock asked, smiling while Stephan nodded at him.

"Did he win?"

"He did, actually," Brock informed him. "It was interesting battling him," he said out aloud before a serious expression masked his face as he revealed his pokeball. "Aeris won the battle kid, but can you?"

"Hah! Bring it on!" Stephan urged as the referee entered the arena before the battle commenced once again.

* * *

"I guess this is the road, Pikachu," Aeris stated before looking at the two roads in front of him.

"Pika pika..." Pikachu was again doubting his trainer's choices.

In front of them were two path. One was a bridge that led to what looked like a jungle, while the other was a steep path that went along the mountainside of what was known as Mt. Moon.

"Pikka." Since the last time Aeris had chosen a path they had to walk in circles, this time Pikachu chose to go towards the opposite direction of what its trainer had told- the mountain path.

"Just how badly do you think of my directioning Pikachu?"

"Pika pika." Pikachu chirped, spreading its two frontlimbs wide apart, as if to say 'a lot'.

* * *

 **Ah! This is my first Author's Note!  
**

 **Shit! I'm shaking!**

 **Anyways, a bit of info for everyone who's reading my story.**

 **Yes- Aeris is going to travel alone.**

 **I know most of you guys would want Aeris to go around in Kanto with Sylvia and Meredith- or just Sylvia, but I don't particularly like that part.**

 **I mean, in almost all the pokefics I've read, the MC travels along the region with 2-3, sometimes 4, people.**

 **And, I find that kind of annoying.**

 **I mean, yeah, I get, introducing characters are important, but it's pokemon for God's sake. Rather then focusing on the characters that are humans, you should focus on the pokemons.**

 **Another thing, this story will follow a semi-double plotline.**

 **Aeris's one will be the main one though.**

 **The semi plotline will mostly feature Sylvia and Meredith, and sometimes Gary and Stephan.**

 **Again, character intros are important. So, cheers!**


	8. Chapter 8- Thwarting The Evil Guys Out

The mountain was steep. It was also edgy. Travelling was hard because you had to walk uphill a lot before you actually reach the cave.

And when Aeris and Pikachu did, they were into a lot more distress to discover that the path inside Mt. Moon was a lot more dark and weary.

"Man, we've been walking for so long!" Aeris exclaims with a sigh before slumping on tthe ground, Pikachu following soon after.

"Pika pikachu."

"I wonder how much longer will it take for us to actually get there..."

"Pika."

Aeris searched for his water bottle and tilted the cap open before chugging a whole lot of it down.

"Woah! That was refreshing," he stated before handing the bottle to Pikachu. "Here Pikachu, some water."

"Pika." Pikachu received the bottle before finishing all the water that was left inside it.

Aeris took back the bottle from Pikachu and put it back on his bag's side pocket before getting up.

"Should we go inside now, buddy?"

"Pika." Pikachu nodded before hopping onto its trainer's shoulder.

"Here we go," Aeris announced before going inside.

The first thing he noticed was ththat the cave was considerably dark. There was little to no light- just bare enough too see through.

"Why is this place so dark?" Aeris ends up questioning himself. "Wasn't there supposed to be a lighting system here?"

"Pika pikachu..." Pikachu answered its trainer's question with an uncertain nod.

Aeris looked around the cave. He noticed some long pieces of wood with their heads blackened from something hanging on the walls.

"Pikka."

"What Pikachu? You sensed something?"

"Pika pika." The little mouse nods before running off to a direction.

Aeris quickly follows Pikachu, and they end up what looked like an entrance to a larger part of Mt. Moon.

"Woah! So, there is an even larger place inside Mt. Moon."

 _Sounds of machines._

"What was that Pikachu?"

Aeris recoiled from the sound and turned sideways to notice that light was coming out from one of the many roads in the interior of Mt. Moon.

"Pikka."

"That's strange. The entrance is dark, but why is light coming out of there?"

"Pika pika..." Pikachu shook its head, as if to say that it has got no idea.

"Let's check it out. Maybe, that's the way out of this place."

Pikachu nodded before the duo were off to check the illuminated part of the cave.

At first, they found it really strange that there were modern lighting fixated in the road they walked through. Not only that, but the footprints on the ground hinted that there were people who walked through this road.

"Looks like someone's been here before," Aeris states, keenly observing the footmarks on the ground while slowly walking ahead, using the walls of the cave as his support.

"Pika Pikachu."

 _Sounds of machines, LOUDER!_

"What's this sound?"

Aeris and Pikachu reaches at almost the end of the path. The light was so bright, that Aeris had to shield his eyes with his arm so that he could see clearly.

At the next part, what he saw shocked both Pikachu and him.

At several parts of the cave chamber, there were bulldozers carrying mud while drills were being used at the walls of the chamber.

At one corner of the room, a scientist in his mid-30s was fiddling with a computer while mysterious men and women clad in black uniforms with the initial of a red 'R' on their t-shirt observed the place.

"What the hell is happening here?" Aeris whispers. Of course, his question remained answered as he observed the situation while hiding behind a large boulder.

The scientist was being guarder by an older, and bulkier man among all the suspicious black uniform clad people. At closer inspection, it could be seen that the scientist was anxious and nervous, and sweat was dripping from his forehead- it was as if he was being forced to do something.

At the exact other end of the room, a certain pokemon was kept inside a prison. The pokemon was red in color, except of its peach belly, and it looked like a chameleon. The pokemon also had a small ember burning on its tail.

Aeris quickly recognized the pokemon as Charmander, one of the starter pokemons Professor Oak presented the day other.

"Why is a Charmander here in this place? Don't they usually live near volcanoes? But more importantly, why is it caged?"

"Quick Professor, move your hands. We don't have much time till the police comes," the bulky man said with a threatening tone.

"I-I'm t-trying..." The scientist responded. "But, it'll take time. Extracting Moon Stones isn't that easy."

"Now, I don't want to hear any excuses," the one seemingly in charge said with a louder tone. "The boss wants the Moon Stones. And, if you don't want to get in trouble, then you'll have to do faster."

"I-I'm trying my best."

"It looks like he's being forced to do something," Aeris mutters to Pikachu who nods understandingly. "They don't seem like good people to me, Pikachu. Should we get out of here?"

Pikachu immediately glared at its trainer. "Pikka."

Although Pikachu's voice was low enough not to alert others, Aeris understood that Pikachu was quite angry at his suggestion.

Tugging on Aeris's jacket, Pikachu pointed towards the caged pokemon. "Pika, pika pika, Pikachu!"

Aeris raises his eyebrow. "You want to help that Charmander?"

"Pika Pikachu."

"But, there's so many of them here, how can we get it out."

At that moment, Pikachu simply smirks and puffs its chest before knocking its arm on its chest in a proud manner.

"Pika Pikachu."

"Well, if you say so..."

Aeris was pretty sure that Pikachu was quite overconfident of itself, but let it pass, it was a situation of danger, after all.

"Make sure you don't get caught buddy, I'm counting on 'ya."

"Pikka."

Pikachu immediately perked its tail and got on its forelegs before quietly tip-toeing towards the cage Charmander was held at.

When it was near a guard, Pikachu immediately hid behind one of the wheels of the bulldozers.

 _"Pikachus really are smart Pokemon, huh?"_

Aeris thought to himself as he saw Pikachu slowly get near the caged pokemon.

When Pikachu came near the cage, the Charmander immediately widened its eyes.

Aeris saw Pikachu whisper something to the Charmander, which immediately hushed it up.

After that, Pikachu started fiddling with the lock of the cage with its tail. A few moments later, the lock clicked open.

"Alright Pikachu, you did it," Aeris whisper-yelled.

Charmander then quietly followed Pikachu back to Aeris, all the while avoiding the watchful eyes of the people in watch.

"Great job buddy, you got him out of there."

"Pikka." Pikachu puffs its chest and knocks its arms again, as if to say 'I told you so'.

"Yeah, yeah, I know you're awesome. Now, let's get out of here. I'm getting bad vibes from this place."

Pikachu nodded. Aeris thought that the Charmander would follow them. However, instead, it stayed rooted to its place with an angry expression on its face.

"What's wrong Charmander?"

"Charmander Char." The pokemon pointed towards the scientist who was being forced to do something in the computer. "Charmander Charmander Char!"

"Uh, do you want to save that man?"

"Charmander Char!" The pokemon lowly growls at Aeris.

"But there's too many people," Aeris tried to reason. "And there's only three of us, we can't deal with that many of them."

"Charmander Char!" Charmander turned its face, signaling Aeris that it won't be leaving.

"Pika Pikachu." Even Pikachu tried to reason with the fire-type starter. However, it took no heed to Pikachu's words, and instead told the mouse pokemon something that shut Pikachu up.

"What's wrong Pikachu?"

"Pika." Pikachu suddenly changed its mind and was adamant at helping the Charmander. "Pika pika pika Pikachu! Pikachu pika Pikachu!"

"Are you trying to say how would I feel if I was in his place?"

"Pika Pikachu!"

Aeris looked deep into Pikachu's eyes. He saw anger, and a kind of blaze in its eyes.

 _Sigh..._

"I got 'cha buddy, let's do this."

"Pika."

"However, we've gotta be careful. That guy there seems like he'd be trouble. So, let's try to be tricky and dodge him in some way."

Pikachu and Charmander nodded as the three of them started observing what was happening inside from the pathway.

"How much longer will it take, Professor?"

"H-Half an hour more sir. It'll be done soon."

"Okay, I got it. I'll be drinking some coffee till then. And you shouldn't be goofing around till then."

"O-Okay sir."

The man then left the Professor's side.

"This is our chance guys, let's do this."

"Pikka."

Aeris, Charmander, and Pikachu slowly crept towards the scientist who was fiddling the computer with shaky hands.

When the scientist saw Aeris, his eyes widened in surprise.

Aeris put his finger on his lips, signaling the man to keep quiet.

"We're gonna get you out of here, sir."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Aeris Blackwood," Aeris answers while glancing at the guards. "I'm here to save you, sir. If you can keep quiet while we distract the guards, then we may be able to get you out of here."

The scientist nods.

Aeris peeks at the guards from the side of the computer table and gulps.

This would either be the most amazing thing he'd done in his life, or the worst.

And probability states... it's the latter one.

"Hey, you guys!" Aeris calls out, making the guards turn their head to see him. "Isn't it a little hot out here? Don't you guys have any A/C or stuff?"

"Who are you?"

"What is a kid doing here?"

"Well, I'm not really a kid, but..." Aeris then kicks the table twice.

It was a signal. Pikachu whispers something to Charmander before the latter slowly starts to lead the scientist out of the place while the guards remain fixated on Aeris.

"Pikachu, use Electro Ball!"

"Pikka." Pikachu jumps into action and reveals itself before firing an Electro Ball in front of the guards.

"Stop that kid!" One of the guards call before three pokeballs flash in the air, all revealing the same kind of pokemon- a small rat with two front teeth.

Aeris takes his pokedex out even in this dire situation.

 _"Rattata, the Mouse Pokemon. A Normal type._

 _Its fangs are long and very sharp. They grow on continuously so it gnaws on sharp things to whittle it down."_

"Rattata, use Super Fang!" All the guards commanded at once before the front teeth of the Rattatas start glowing.

"Quick Pikachu, use Thundershock!"

"Pika!" Pikachu's cheeks flare off electricity as it readies its attack. "Chuuuuuu!"

Pikachu fires off the 1,000 volts of electricity at the poor Rattatas who become jelly fried because of the attack. They weren't even able to land their attacks!

"Damn it! How did that kid beat all of us?!"

"Let's get out of here now, Pikachu."

"Pikka."

"Now, why don't 'ya stop right there."

It was that man from before- the large and bulky one with messy black hair.

"I don't know what's you're problem kid, but you're messin' with my work here."

"Oh yeah! Forcing someone to do your work isn't nice, you know."

"The work isn't nice kid," the man states. "There're all kinds of things happening in places all around. See, the thing is, nobody cares if you're nice or not. All that matters is if you're listening to what they say."

"That's how you guys think," Aeris fires back. Incidentally, the scientist and Charmander had already escaped from Mt. Moon.

"That's just the way how this world works kid, you'll understand it sooner or later," he says before bringing out a pokeball. "For now, let me teach you what happens when you mess with us. This is punishment kid, punishment for poking your nose into someone else's business- Team Rocket's business."

The grunt threw the ball before a larger, and stronger version of the previous rat-like pokemons came out in the open.

"Ratiiii!"

 _"Raticate, the Mouse Pokemon and the evolved form of Rattata. A Normal type._

 _Its hind feet are webbed. They act as flippers, so it can swim in rivers and hunt for prey."_

"Let's give them a bite of our Raticate, use Hyper Fang."

It was like that attack with the Rattatas. However, in this case, Raticate's teeth were larger and had a more darker shine to them.

"Raticate!" The pokemon howled before jumping near Pikachu.

"Dodge it Pikachu!"

Pikachu barely dodged the attack, jumping to the right just in time to dodge the blow. However, Raticate didn't let up its attack and instead jumped again in front of Pikachu before biting Pikachu's tail.

"Pika!" Pikachu yelled in pain.

"See, kid, this is reality. Those who are strong are winners in life, rest are losers."

Aeris clenched his fists. He didn't see any openings out of that attack. And as to what he could see, Pikachu had been drained off a lot of its energy.

It was then that an idea popped up in Aeris's mind.

"Pikachu, use Electro Ball!"

"What!" The grunt stares shocked as thunder and electricity rages on at Pikachu's tail. Since Raticate was biting Pikachu's tail, the Electro Ball burst as soon as it was complete, making Raticate fly out at the walls of the cave.

"How did he-."

"See, Mister, that's not always how the world workers. Strong people, or weak people doesn't matter. It's the goodwill in us that leads us to our goals," Aeris states and pumps his fists. "Finish it Pikachu, use Thundershock!"

"Pika!" Electricity starts sparking off the sacs on Pikachu's cheek. "Chuuuuuu!"

Pikachu releases the full force of its attack at Raticate who watched in horror as the electricity slowly engulfed its body before its legs and eyes gave out.

"Alright Pikachu, you did it!"

"That's not possible! How could a kid beat me?!"

"The kid just did," Aeris says with a smirk as Pikachu jumps on Aeris's shoulders, ready for a run. "Alright then, let's get out of here Pikachu, this place is gonna collapse."

It was true. Due to Raticate's impact with the wall, the whole place was shaking and the roof above was already starting to break down.

Aeris quickly hurried his feet and ran for his life as boulders and rocks started falling behind.

"AHHH! What the hell is happening?! We're definitely gonna die! AHHH!"

"Pi Pikachu!"

It's ironic how both of them were being like a hero before. And now, the said heroes are running for their lives.

Aeris's legs were about to give out with all the running before finally he saw light and ran straight ahead at that direction.

In the end, he and Pikachu were successful in getting out of Mt. Moon, albeit with mud on their bodies and sweat all over their faces.

It was at that time when Aeris's legs gave out and he fell on the ground.

Pikachu and Aeris were so tired that they didn't notice the two people who were watching.

"Thank you! I can't thank you enough for what you did!" The scientist, jumping up and down with a happy smile in his face. "You two saved our lives," he stated, also indicating at Charmander.

"Charmander Char."

"Oh yeah, that sounds amazing."

"Pi Pikachu."

After a moment of rest, Aeris finally stands up before looking at the scientist in confusion.

"Wait, how did they even get you in the first place?"

"I'm a researcher," the scientist, now a researcher, says, while tilting his glasses. "Currently, I'm doing a report on the inside of Mt. Moon and how Moon Stones are formed."

"Moon Stones?"

"They are a kind of evolution stones that you can find in Kanto. There are lots of pokemon that evolve when they react with a Moon Stones."

"Woah! That sounds amazing!"

"Pi Pikachu."

"It _is_ one of the wonders of this world. However, for what you did, I can't thank you for that. Which is why-" The researcher stuffs his hands into his pockets before pulling out a grey crystal with a mysterious shine on its center. "Here. This is a Moon Stone. I found it when I was observing the place one day. I've got no use for it, but I'm sure that you'll find it handy."

"That's great! Thank you!" Aeris thanks him before taking the Moon Stone. He and Pikachu observes it for a while before Aeris stuffs it back in his pocket.

"Charmander Char."

Charmander was so happy beyond belief that it ended up hugging Aeris all of a sudden, licking his face before firing a small ember from its mouth that burnt Aeris's face.

"Woah there Charmander, I know you're happy, friend, but at this rate, you're gonna burn me into ash."

"Charmander Char." Charmander apologizes while scratching its head, It might've gotten a bit too far.

"Hey, you know kid, I've got another idea. Why don't you take Charmander with you?" The researcher suggested.

"Uh, what? But, isn't Charmander your pokemon."

The researcher bursts into laughter.

"No, it's not. That Charmander is the pokemon which lights up Mt. Moon. I'm sure you've seen some torches on your way here."

"Torches?" Aeris thinks back. Finally, it dawned on him that the long sticks of wood hanging on the walls were actually torches. "Oh yeah, those things on the wall. I didn't know they were torches."

"Yup. And, this Charmander over here is the one who manages all that. However, with Mt. Moon in this shape, I don't think there'll be people coming here for a while. Not that they actually come since you can just go from Pewter to Cerulean through the jungle path."

"The jungle path?"

"Yeah. There are two roads that leads from Pewter City to Cerulean City. One is through Mt. Moon. And, the other is the jungle pathway."

Aeris immediately glances at Pikachu to notice the little mouse trying to look elsewhere.

"This means that I was telling the right path."

"Pika Pikachu." Pikachu sighs, and admits defeat. It was his fault this times, and he knew it.

"Well, anyways..." Aeris turns around to face Charmander. "You wanna come with me on my journey, Charmander?"

"Char!"

Charmander fires off an ember at Aeris's face.

 _Cough._

"I guess, I'll take that as a yes."

Both the researcher and Pikachu burst into fits of laughter.

Aeris's face was just too funny to _not_ laugh at.

* * *

"It seems like there are two roads from here," Sylvia states, staring at the two paths ahead.

One was a path that led to a jungle while the other led to a mountain.

"Which one should we take Stephan?" Meredith asks the blonde.

"The jungle-path, of course. The other one leads to Mt. Moon. Not only is that path risky, but that place is also more like a maze."

After winning it out at the Pewter City Gym, Stephan, Meredith, and Sylvia were off towards Cerulean City, their next place of destination.

"Alright! We'll be in Cerulean City in no time then."

"I guess, you could say that Meredith," Stephan says with a grin. He was looking forward to challenge the Cerulean City gym. Although he couldn't meet Aeris this time, he hopes that he'll get to battle him again someday.

"Isn't Cerulean City where your first contest is in, Sylvy?" Meredith asks her.

"Yup. Cerulean City is where I'll take the first step to my goal."

"Cool, I hope you win, Sylvia."

"Thanks, Stephan."


	9. Chapter 9- A Cerulean City Water Ride

Cerulean City was just as Aeris had expected it to be- a large, widespread city that overlooked the Moon river which had its source over Mt. Moon and flowed beside Cerulean to a flowy landscape.

"We're finally here, Pikachu."

"Pika."

A day has passed by since Aeris and Pikachu left Mt. Moon with their new friend in tow.

Currently, Aeris had four pokeballs attached to his belt. One was, of course, Pikachu's, two of them was for Nidorino and Dratini, and the last one was for their new friend, the Flame Pokemon, Charmander.

"Why don't we head right over to the gym buddy?"

"Pikka." Pikachu nods at its trainer. The idea was refreshing. Although it would be a hassle to directly dive into a gym battle after going through Mt. Moon, but since they have been doing nothing but dozing off since their encounter with those men in black, Pikachu wanted to stretch its arms and legs a litte.

"Alright then, let's go!"

* * *

"Ugh! Is it just me or is this place _not_ a gym?"

What Aeris meant that the building in front of them was nothing like a pokemon gym. Instead, it looked more like an aquarium.

"Excuse me, are you here to register for the upcoming Pokemon Contest?"

Aeris turns around and spots a tall, older woman in a blue uniform.

"Uh, no."

"Are you registering as a spectator then?"

"Um, you see, I'm here to actually challenge the Gym Leader."

"The gym leader?"

"Yeah. I'm from Pallet Town, and I'd really like to have a battle with the leader."

"Oh, I'm sorry to inform, but the Gym Leader is not in the gym at this moment."

"What? The gym leader's not at the gym?"

This is the second time this has occured. First it was the Viridian City gym, and noe it was Cerulean's. Was Aeris's luck _that_ bad?

"You see, there's a fishing competition being held at the Moon river as of today. And, since the Gym Leader has a fascination for Water-type pokemons, she's going to participate in that challenge."

"Oh man! What a bummer?"

"Ah, but, you wouldn't need to worry much though. The competition is just for today, so the Gym Leader will be here tomorrow."

"The gym leader's gonna be here tomorrow?"

"Yes, if nothing goes wrong, that is."

"Alright, I guess I'll come back tomorrow," Aeris stated, with a much disheartened face as he and Pikachu walk back towards the path they came from.

24 hours shouldn't be that long of a wait. Unless, of course, time slows down to an hour per second.

* * *

Since they were not able to challenge the gym, Aeris and Pikachu decided to take a breather along the riverbed of the Moon river. The water of the Moon river was crystal clear, and it was sparkling under the sunlight.

"Damn Pikachu, we couldn't challenge the gym today. Why does this keep happening to me?"

"Pika pika...…."

For now, there was nothing to be done, and before he knew it, Aeris found himself throwing pebbles in the river while sitting on a rock, Pikachu beside him.

It was in that exact moment when a loud bang resonated around him.

Looking around, Aeris spotted that at the corner of a river, there were banners and posters set up, and quite a number of people were gathered there.

"Eh? Is that a festival?"

"Pika pi?"

"Wanna check it Pikachu?"

"Pikka."

The first thing Aeris and Pikachu noticed was that almost everyone had a fishing rod in their hand.

"Eh?"

Now that he thinks about it, the woman at the gym _did_ mention something about a fishing contest.

"Hello there. Are you a participant?"

A tall, young man asks Aeris. Incidentally, there was a badge on his shirt-pocket which had the word **'Volunteer'** on it.

"Uh! No. Not really."

"Hmm? Then, would you like to participate?"

"But, I don't really have a fishing rod or anything?"

"Oh, that won't be a problem," says the man. "We have rental rods for those who don't have their own. You can just borrow one of them if you like."

"Wow! Really! Awesome!"

"I see you want to participate. Very well then, follow me."

* * *

"Awesome! There are so many fishing kits here!"

"Pika pi...!"

Both Pikachu and Aeris were astonished with the amount of fishing rods, hooks, baits, and other fishing kits around them.

It was like a festival of fishing kits.

"Alright then, here's where you pick a fishing rod?"

The volunteer said, gesturing him towards a shelf which had fishing rods lined together very delicately.

"Wow. This is amazing."

There were rods of all size and colors. The baits mostly consisted of small fish, and the hooks were of different colors.

In the end, Aeris ended up getting an easy-to-use rod along with a metal hook and bait.

"Alright! I'm set! Time to go fishing Pikachu!"

"Pika pika!"

* * *

Aeris sat at the riverbank, humming quietly to himself as he wishes for something to happen.

"Damn! This is so boring! We've been here for an hour, and there's nothing happening."

"Pika pika..."

Even Pikachu was quiet exhausted.

Looking to his left and right, Aeris realizes that all the other participants had at least caught a magikarp or goldeen. And, here he was, with his bair still intact.

"Gosh! This is so frustrating! Why doesn't something get caught already?!"

"Pika pika!"

"Fishing is all about patience. You can't hurry with it."

"Eh?"

A tall girl.

Her ginger hair was in shoulder-length pigtails, and here eyes were orange. She was clad in an orange crop top and jeans short, and there was a shiny fishing rod in her hand.

"Hi there. I'm Misty. And it seems like you're having some trouble fishing."

"Oh. Hi. I'm Aeris. And, this is my partner Pikachu."

"Pika pi!"

"Wow! Aren't you just a cutie!"

Misty bends down and immediately starts squishing the electric rodent's cheeks.

"Hey! Wait! If you do that-."

"Pika pi!"

She received 1000 volts of shock for that one.

"Ehehehe. Looks like I really messed up."

"Sorry. It's just that Pikachu doesn't like when someone touches its cheeks."

"Don' worry 'bout that. Besides, I was the one to surprise it like that anyway."

"Pika pi..."

"Anyways, are you a participant too?"

"Yup," replies Misty. "Though, as you can see, I'm already done with my stuff."

Misty shows Aeris a bucket. The letter looks down to see a lot of pokemons; mainly Magikarps and Goldeens.

"Wow! So many! You're a pro."

"Uh. Not really. It's just that when I start fishing, I get so hooked on it that I can't stop."

"You must really like fishing then."

"I like fishing. But I like water pokemons more, in general."

"I see. That's nice "

"I have this dream, you know. To one day, be the strongest water-type trainer. Well, right now I'm nothing more than an amateur, but I hope to accomplish that someday."

"Amazing! You're so confident."

"Well... Yeah... I guess."

Pikachu felt bored. Its trainer was too hooked on talking with that girl which showed up just now, and it had nothing else to do.

With no other option, it walks towards the river before staring at its reflection in the water. It was at that moment when a ripple formed and something came out.

"Shellllllll!"

"Eh? What was that sound?"

Aeris becomes alerted.

"Pikka!"

Misty and Aeris looked at Pikachu's direction and saw a blue shell-like pokemon floating on the surface of the water.

"That's a Shellder!" Misty exclaims, upon seeing the pokemon, as Aeris takes out his pokedex for further info.

 _"Shellder, the Bivalve Pokemon, a Water type._ _It swims facing backward by opening and closing its two-piece shell. It is surprisingly fast."_

"Woah. Finally, there's something I can catch. Alright Pikachu, get ready."

"Pikka!"

"Pikachu, use Electro-"

Before he could finish though, Shellder opened his mouth... or shell, and sorayed a beam of water at Pikachu's mouth before starting to laugh continuously.

Pikachu cleans its face and wipes its mouth before glaring at the shell pokemon.

"Pika!"

"Shell shell shell shell shelldeeer!"

"Pika pikachu!"

Shellder then gives Pikachu 'the eye', as in making a mocking look on its face before swimming swiftly.

"Don't let it get away, Pikachu!"

Aeris says, and starts running on the bank along with Pikachu.

"Hey, wait for me!" Misty says, running after him with her fishing rod and bucket still in her hands.

Shellder looked back at his followers once and sniggered profusely before raising its speed.

"Pikachu, use Electro Ball!"

"Pika pika pika pikachu!"

Pikachu flied midair before releasing the pinball like electro ball from its tail.

Shellder finally looked scared, a little, and looked to dodge it, but was denied when the electro ball hit straight on its face, bang on, with 100% accuracy.

"Alright, pokeball! GO!"

Aeris threw the pokeball at it, and the Shellder got swallowed inside the pokeball. The ball dropped on the surface of the river, and shook several times before finally it calmed down.

"Alright! I caught a new pokemon!"

"Pi pikachu!"

"Well, that's amazing Aeris! You caught a very rare pokemon!"

"Really? Does it mean I might win the competition?"

There were sparkles in his eyes, but unfortunately for him, Misty let him down, reluctantly.

"Um, I'm sorry to say, but that won't count because you didn't catch it with a fishing rod!"

"WHAAAAT?!"

* * *

The winners were announced through the speakers, and as Aeris had thought, Misty won it. The prize was a deluxe fishing rod that was expensive and hard to get. No wonder Misty was delighted to lift the fishing rod in front of everyone.

"Woah! Congratulations, Misty!"

"Thank you! And as much as I'd like to celebrate it, I really have my job cut out for me."

"Huh? Your job?"

"Yeah, I'm the Cerulean City gym leader. I forgot to mention it, right?"

"What? You're the gym leader! I wanted to challenge you for a battle but you weren't there in the morning!"

"Aw! I'm sorry. I seemed to have caused you some troubles. But don't worry, when you come tomorrow, you're sure to get n exciting battle!"

"I'll be looking forward it then!"

"Yeah, cool! Well then, bye bye for now!"

"Yeah, bye! Get ready for the battle!"

"I will Aeris, and you too Pikachu!"

"Pika pikachu!"

* * *

It was the day of the battle, and Aeris and Misty were inside the Cerulean city gym. The battle was taking place inside the aquarium, a hidden staircase which led to the battlefield below, a solid rocky island with water surrounding it. Seems like the perfect place for a water pokemon battle.

"Trainers, please get ready. This will be a battle between the Cerulean City Gym Leader Misty and Trainer Aeris Blackwood from Pallet Town. Both trainers will be able to use up to 2 pokemons, and only the challenger may be able to switch their pokemon. If you're ready, then... BATTLE BEGIN!"

For his first pokemon, Aeris decided to go with the Shellder he caught yesterday. Although he _did_ train it a bit to give him some footing against water pokemons, Shellder had practically little to no experience in pokemon battling, so the move was slightly risky.

As for Misty, she went with a Goldeen.

 _"Goldeen, the Goldfish Pokemon. A Water type._ _Goldeen is a very beautiful pokemon with_ _fins that billow elegantly in water. However, don't let your guard down around this pokemon- it could ram you powerfully with its horn."_

"Don't let your guard down, huh?" Aeris repeated the Pokedex's words before giving a command. "Then, let's brace for an attack Shellder, use Withdraw."

Shellder withdraws back to its shell before it glowed momentarily and came back out. Its defense stat had risen."

"Then we'll greet you like you wanted- Goldeen use Horn Attack!"

Golden's fins started flap rapidly in the water before it swam seiftly towards Shellder. Since both of the pokemons were floating on the water, Goldeen dived underground before using its horn to hit Shellder from below it, causing the latter to fling out to the air before falling back down on the surface of water.

At first, it looked like it was knocked out, but slowly, it rose up to the surface with a smirk in its mouth.

"Use Bubblebeam, Shellder!"

Shellder opened its mouth and lots of bubbles of water sprayed and hit Goldeen. The attack wasn't much effective though, and the bubbles merely popped when it came in contact with Goldeen's horn.

"Use Supersonic, Goldeen."

"Dodge it!"

Goldeen pointed its horns at Shellder before firing superonic wavelengths at it. In response, since the attack was slowly, and Shellder was on water, it only had to swim away from its initial position to doge the attack.

"Ice Beam, Shellder!"

A very powerful attack, Shellder opened its clamp before bolts of ice started firing out from its mouth.

"Go underwater to dodge it, Goldeen"

Goldeen listened to its trainer and dived underwater to successfully dodge the attack.

"Now use Horn Attack once again!"

As before, it started to swim from the bottom to the top, and was about to hit Shellder when-

"Clamp, Shellder!"

Aeris had been preparing for this. As soon as Goldeen was close enough, Shellder opened its clamps and caught the Goldfish pokemon before closing its clamps. Goldeen choked due to the clamps' force and fainted inside.

Afterwards, when Shellder released itz Goldeen floated up with swirls in its eyes.

"Goldeen is unable to battle."

The referee confirmed and Misty withdrew her pokemon.

"Ha-ha. Who knew you'd go with a trick like that? So, the Ice Beam was just a bait, huh?"

"Yup, I knew you'd go with Horn Attack because water type attacks aren't really effective against Shellder."

"And so, you also raised its defence beforehand to withstand the attack. That's some clever planning."

"Hehe."

In truth, Aeris had learnt a lot from his Gym battle with Brock. A little bit of precaution, mixed with some hidden tricks that made use of the environment, and he could eliminate his opponent. He still has more to learn though. An elite trainer would've never used Bubblebeam against a water pokemon. It almost cost him the battle. If Shellder was hit with the Supersonic, the match might've gone the other way.

"However, Aeris, tricks like that won't work againd this pokemon!"

Misty threw a pokeball. A red light shooted towards the battlefield before a star-shaped pokemon with a gem on its body came out.

 _"Staryu, the Star Shape Pokemon. A water type._ _An enigmatic Pokemon that can effortlessly regain any appendage it loses in battle."_ "So, basically, I just have to hit it before it can recover."

Aeris brought out Shellder's pokemon and withdrew it out of the battle. In return, he asked Pikachu to battle it.

Pikachu stood on the small island. Opposite him stood Staryu on an identically small island.

"Resume Battle."

With the referee's announcement, Misty was quick to spring into action.

"Staryu, use Water Gun!"

The gem on Staryu's body started glowing brightly before a small beam of water was sprayed at Pikachu.

"Use Thundershock, Pikachu!"

To counter the Water Gun, Pikachu used Thundershock. The two attacks met and a small explosion formed between the middle of the two pokemons but neither of them was harmed.

"Keep your distance Pikachu. Use Electro Ball!"

Pikachu spun in midair before hurling the sparkling orb of electricity at Staryu.

"Rapid Spin!"

Staryu jumped and started spinning violently at 360. Not only did spinning its body deflected the Electro Ball to somewhere else in the Gym, it kept going at an accelerating speed before tackling Pikachu.

"Pika pi!"

Pikachu was damaged by the attack, and the yellow rodent had to hold its knees to stand back up.

"Damn. I didn't expect that!"

"Pikachu pika!"

Pikachu, enraged by the attack, started to spark its cheeks and urged its trainer for another attack.

"Ha-ha. Seems like you're all fired up, Pikachu! If keeping our distance doesn't matter, then go ahead and use Quick Attack!"

Although it had to go through water to perform the attack, Pikachu's speed, paired with its minor weight helped it on running on the surface of the water leaving droplets behind it.

Misty was genuinely surprised but asked Staryu to perform a Rapid Spin regardless.

Staryu spun rapidly, and charged towards Pikachu. However-

"Now, move to your right!"

Instead of attacking, Pikachu jumped to its right and laned on the island on Misty's side.

"Use Tail Whip!"

While Staryu was spinning, Pikachu jumped over it and slapped it with its tail. Staryu fell on the water. Although the Tail Whip itself didn't do any damage, because of the impact, Staryu felt as if it was slapped by the water.

"Use Recover, Staryu!"

Misty realized the situation and quickly ordered her Staryu to regain its health.

"Just as I expected!" Aeris smirked. "Now Pikachu, finish it with Thundershock!"

"Crap," Misty widened her eyes upon realising the situation.

Pikachu sparked its cheeks once again before hurling zaps of electricity at Staryu. The water was 'hyper' effective, if possible. Electric moves are effective against Water type pokemons anyway, but paired with the water around Staryu, the attack became even more powerful and effective.

The Staryu, who was in its recovery process, received the full force of the attack and sank to the bottom of the pool before floating back up.

"Staryu is unable to battle. This means that the winner of this battle is Challenger Aeris Blackwood!"

"Alright!"

"Pika Pikachu!"

Misty smiles at his fallen pokemon before returning it back to its pokeball and letting it rest. Afterwards, she walks towards Aeris with a box in her hand.

"Ha-ha. That was a nice battle. I still can't believe that Pikachu just ran on the water there like that, though."

"Well, it's not enitrely impossible. Pikachu is a light pokemon and is also very fast, not to mention the water in the battlefield was thicker than normal."

"I see, you seem to know a lot about different things, huh? In any case, here's the proof of your victory- the Cascade Badge."

The was basically a sunflower with each of its seven petals having the colors of a rainbow.

Aeris takes out the badge from the box and puts it inside his badge case before returning it back inside his bag.

"Also, here's something from me personally."

From her short's pocket, Misty takes out a shiny grey stone.

"This is..."

Aeris recognizes it. He saw one of these with those guys in black uniforms back at Mt. Moon.

"A Moon Stone. I picked it up when I was walking around Mt. Moon a few days. I don't really have any use for it, so I'm giving it you. I'm sure it'll be handy one day."

"Thanks."

A Moon Stone was one of the many evolution stones found in the planet. Certain species of pokemons evolve only when they are exposed to these stones. Researchers say that pokemons absorb the energy needed to evolve from these specific stones, thus they turn into ashes after the pokemon has evolved.

After thanking Misty once again, Aeris left the Cerulean City Pokemon Gym with his second badge with him.

* * *

 **Sorry guys for posting after such a long time.** **Recently, shit has been coming up one after another for me. I was supposed to give me O' level exams in May, but since the quarantine, my studies have been going nowhere and I'm stuck in a serious predicament.** **Anyways, hope you all liked this chapter. Since I've nothing else to do nowadays, I'll be posting more often.** **Cheers!** **And make sure to wash your hands frequently and go out of your home only if absolutely necessary.** **Stay safe and stay healthy.** **Bah-Bye?**


	10. Chapter 10- The Evolution Pokemon

Prior to leaving Cerulean City, Aeris got a notification on his Pokedex from Professor Oak who messaged him to call him as soon as possible.

Because of this, Aeris had to dial a call from the phone booth in the Pokemon Center.

"Ah. Aeris. It's delightful to see you again after so long. And that includes you too, little Pikachu."

"Pika pi."

"So, um, Professor, why'd you want to talk to me?"

"Ah. Yeah. You see, I have a favor to ask of you. A former student of mine, whose name is Bill, lives very near from Cerulean City. I was hoping you could deliver this pokemon to him."

While saying so, the Professor was holding a pokeball in his hand.

"Ah. Yeah, sure."

"Thank you very much. I would've asked Gary for this, but he's already gone ahead to Vermilion City. In any case, take care Aeris."

"Yeah, you too Professor."

The monitor turned black.

"Ah. Damn. So, Gary's already at Vermilion Ciry, huh? That guy's always a step ahead of me."

"Pika pi..."

"But, well, let's forget that and go to this Bill guy's place, Pikachu. I feel like we might be able to know something interesting."

"Pika Pi!"

* * *

Bill's house was a three day journey away from Cerulean City. Since it was located on his path towards Vermilion City, Aeris wasn't troubled much by Professor Oak's request.

"So, this is the place, huh?"

Aeris checked the adress. It matched with the one the Professor sent him.

After knocking on the door a few times, Aeris received no reply. He knocked a few more times but still received no reply.

Maybe, he was out?

Even so, just to check, Aeris held the doorknob and found out that the door was open.

"O-Okay...?"

He stepped inside and once again called out to see if anyone was there.

The entrance was connected to a large room that had pretty much everything needed for a person that lived alone. And there, he saw a Raticate on the ground.

"Uh... What? Why is there a Raticate inside the house?"

He thought that it probably beling to Bill, however, he was greatly mistaken.

"Oh! Finally, someone came!"

"W-What? T-Talking! This pokemon is t-talking."

Even Pikachu backed down a bit out of fear. It has never seen or heard of a talking pokemon before.

"Oh, no. I'm not a pokemon. I'm actually a human. My name is Bill, and I'm a researcher. I got stuck here while trying to find out how a Raticate feels inside its fur.

"Wait, you're Bill?"

"Yeah, I am. And if you can, could you please press that switch on the table? My hands are too small so I can't reach there."

"Ah... Sure."

After pressing the red button, Bill's suit flashed brightly before it slowly started to come off. It was in fact a rubber suit.

"Hello there. Once again, I'm Bill the researcher."

"I'm Aeris. Aeris Blackwood. From Pallet Town. And Professor Oak asked me to give you this?"

Aeris handed Bill a pokeball.

"Oh, finally, it arrived. I was waiting for this for so long."

"Uh... I see."

"If you're interested in Pokemon, then this might be to your liking. Do you want to see my research?"

Aeris and Pikachu's eyes started sparkling.

"Yes, sure!"

"Then come on here."

Bill guided them towards his computer. He pressed a few keys on the keyboard before a screen popped up showing a small fox pokemon with arrows pointing to three other pokemons that looked fairly similar.

"Um, what is this?"

"The pokemon I'm researching right now is called an Eevee," Bill informed and pressed a button on the pokeball Aeris gave him. The white fox pokemon on Bill's screen came out.

"Eeeeeveeee."

"An Eevee?"

 _"Eevee, the Evolution Pokemon. A Normal type._

 _Thanks to its unstable genetic makeup, it conceals many different evolutions of different types."_

"Different evolutions?"

"Yup, Eevee is a pokemon that can evolve into many different pokemons depending on the evolution stone it is exposed to, or the environment they live in. Eevee is one of the most interesting pokemons to research on. Just in the Kanto region, there are three different pokemons that Eevee can evolve into. They are-"

Bill moved aside to show Aeris the picture of the other three pokemon.

"Vaporeon- the water type. Flareon- a fire type. And Jolteon- the electric type. Eevee evolves into any one of them when it is exposed to a water stone, a fire stone, or a thunder stone, reslectively. My main topic of research is why Eevee is capable to evolving into so many different forms."

"I-I see. That certainly is quite mysterious."

"Right? In any case, you've helped me a lot by coming here today. Looking at you, I can say that you're a pokemon trainer. Do you have any Pokemons that can evolve by using an evolution stone?"

"Yeah, I actually do have one."

Aeris took out Nidorino's pokeball and revealed the pokemon to Bill.

"Whoa. A Nidorino. If you use a Moon Stone on it, then it will evolve into a Nidoking."

"A Moon Stone? You mean this?"

Aeris also revealed to Bill the Moon Stone he received from Misty.

"That's amazing. You even have a Moon Stone. If you let Nidorino hold it, then it will evolve."

"I see."

"However, if you evolve it right now, I'm afraid it might not be as powerful as you want it too. Although it's important for pokemons to evolve, what's more important is the timing at which they evolve. A pokemon that evolves too early might not be able to control its power while a pokemon that evolves too late will not generate as much power as expected. Therefore, it's always important to ascertain the right time and then evolve a pokemon. That being said, you should train your Nidorino a litte longer and then go for the evolution."

"I understand."

He puts the Moon Stone back in his backpack and also returns Nidorino.

"Thanks for the advice. That was really helpful."

"No worries. I might be a Pokemon Researcher, but I was once a Pokemon Trainer like you at one time. I know how difficult it is to raise a pokemon the proper way. However, once you get it, the happiness you get from it has no bounds."

"I know that feeling," Aeris confessed, caressing Pikachu's cheeks in the meantime. "At first, you're always unsure if you're gonna get it right or not, but when you do, and your pokemon becomes stronger than before, it's one of the most delightful feelings ever."

"Ha-ha. That's a nice way of putting it. Anyways Aeris, if you're planning to go to Vermilion City then I can give you a little ride on my car."

"Eh? Really?"

"Yup. I was planning to go there anyway, and since you've taken the liberty to come here and deliver me this pokemon, I feel obliged to help you."

"Then, I'll accept that. Thanks, Bill."

"No worries."

* * *

It took only a few hours for them to reach Vermilion City. The port city was huge, and the sea was very near from here. At the port, there were numerous ships aligned together.

"Here we are, Aeris."

"Thank you, Bill. I'm very grateful that you've taken me here."

"No worries, Aeris. I'll be going then. If you need help, remember that you can always give me a call."

"I'll be sure to remember that."

Amd with that, Bill and Aeris waved goodbye before the former drove further away from them.

"Why don't we go and check on the Pokemon Center then, Pikachu? I'm sure you're tired, right?"

"Pika pikachu..."

It was needless to say that the car ride was exhausting. The road was also rocky and the car shook each time it went over a rock or any other obstacle.

After entering the Pokemon Center, Aeris handed Nurse Joy his Pikachu and the other pokeballs on a tray before deciding to take a drink from the vending machine and rest on the lounge.

To his surprise, there was a very familiar face present there.

"Gary..."

"Well, what do you know, Aerisy-boy. What a coincidence meeting you here."

"You too. Here taking a break?"

"Yup. I've already beat the Gym Leader so I'm just chilling right now."

To prove his statement, Gary showed Aeris his badge case, displaying the sparkling badge from the Vermilion City Gym.

"Damn. That's amazing. You're way too fast."

"He-he. That's me alright," he says while rubbing his nose with a smug smile on his face. "So, did you do what gramps asked you to?"

"Yeah. In fact, I just came from here. Bill gave me a ride."

"Seriously? That guy's driving is horrendous."

"Wait, you know Bill?"

"Well, yeah, of course. He's a student of gramps so he stops by often."

"I w-wasn't aware of that."

Well, Gary _is_ Professor Oak's grandson after all. It wouldn't be unusual of him to have already known Bill, therefore.

"Anyways, Aeris, do ya have some time before you're gonna challenge the Gym?"

"Uh... Yeah, I do. Why?"

Aeris wasn't in a particular hurry to challenge the Gym. The Vermilion City Gym Leader, Lt. Surge, uses electric type pokemons. And since Aeris doesn't have a Pokemon that has the advantage against electric types, he was planning to roam around and train his pokemons for a while instead.

"Lookie here."

Gary searched his bag before revealing a pair of tickets to Aeris.

"Eh? What's that?"

"This is a ticket for the party that's going to be held on the luxurious cruise ship, S.S. Anne."

"Wha! S.S. Anne? Isn't that way too expensive? How did you even get them?"

The S.S. Anne was one of the most expensive and luxurious ships in Kanto. It was built specifically for rich customers, and the inside was nothing short of a hotel. Only few fortunate people ever get their hands on a ticket.

"Chill dude, do I look like someone that can buy these? Gramps gave em to me. He was invited on board but since he's busy with his research he gave em to me. However, he gave me two of them, so I have an extra. Wanna go with me, Aerisy-boy?"

"Do you even have to ask?"

There's no way in hell anyone would ever miss a chance to board the S.S. Anne. Something like this is a once in a lifetime chance. There's no way Aeris would have refused.

"Good, then. Get ready by tomorrow evening and sleep beforehand. It's a night party, so we'll be staying awake the whole time."


	11. Chapter 11- The Luxurious Cruise

"We feel so out of place here..."

"We sure do, Aerisy-boy."

The interior of the S.S. Anne was magnificent. There were huge chandeliers on the roof lighting up the place, and the smell of food and perfume wafted through the air.

All around Aeris and Gary were rich and famous people. Men wore suit and tie while the women were wearing dresses.

And amongst them, there's Gary and Aeris in their usual travelling clothes.

"But well, it's not like we can afford those fancy suits now, can we?"

Aeris glances at Gary from the corner of his eyes.

He was right, though. There's no way a bunch of recently graduated middle-schoolers would be able to afford something as expensive as a suit. Heck, even just the blazer would cost them 10 times the amount of money they have right now combined.

"But well, since we're here anyways, let's get some food."

The food corner was filled with foreign and exquisite dishes. Since it was a buffet, you could eat all you want. Gary and Aeris made sure to fill their plates. There was also a separate corner filled with rich and tasty pokemon food. Pikachu's eyes were practically sparkling when it saw those.

The three of them, including Pikachu, grabbed their plates and took their seats on an empty table.

While they were eating, the light went off and a soap opera started playing on an uplifted stage inside the S.S. Anne.

"Amazing. This ship must have taken crazy amount of money to make?"

"It took around a few million to build this."

Hearing Gary's words, Aeris choke on his food.

"What the actual heck!"

His voice was a bit loud and the people around him hears him, so he quietly whispers a sorry before going back to his food.

"Ladies and gentlemen," said an announcer on the stage. "Thank you all for gathering here on this very special night. Today, we welcome you aboard the very fantastic S.S. Anne. I hope you all have enjoyed the various entertainments we've set up for you today."

Aeris thought that he must be talking about the soap opera and the mini-arcade set up. Some rich young people were playing poker and pool inside the arcade still.

"But now, it's time today for the special event."

"Whoa. An event. What's that?"

Gary quietly voiced his thoughts so that only Aeris could hear him.

"When you entered aboard the ship today, we exchanged your tickets with a special token. I assume you still have it with you."

Aeris's token number was 13 while Gary's was 57. After they entered, an official of the ship had taken their tickets and exchanged it with random coupons picked out from a vase.

"For this special event, we have decided to select two lucky guests from amongst all of you and have a pokemon battle. The winner of the battle will receive a rare gift from us. Then, without further ado, let's select the trainers."

Behind the announcer, there was a huge monitor screen. The screen lit up before two number '0's were placed on each side.

After the announcer turned back, the numbers started to increase and decrease in a blinding rate. After a few seconds, the numbers stopped changing and two numbers were displayed on the screen.

One was 32, while the other was 57.

"He-he. Lucky me, Aerisy-boy," Gary smirks at an annoyed Aeris and proudly walks to the stage.

The person he would be battling was Evelyn, a lady in a red dress and fashionable accessories on her. It was easy to ascertain that she was a woman from a rich family.

"I'll be the judge for this battle," the announcer said and centered himself on the side of the stage as Gary and Evelyn stood on each other's side. "The battle will be a one-on-one. The first pokemon to faint loses. Then, trainers, let's begin."

"Here we go, my sweetheart," Evelyn twirled on her heels before gently throwing a pokeball. The red light flashed brightly before a cat pokemon with whiskers and a gold amulet stuck on its head camd out.

"Meowth!!!"

From the other side, Gary also released his own pokemon. His pokemon was a fire-type puppy pokemon with red fur and black stripes all over its body.

"Growww!"

Aeris took out his pokedex and lowered the volume so that only he and Pikachu could hear the information.

He pointed the Pokedex at Gary's pokemon first, and then at Evelyn's.

 _"Growlithe, the Puppy Pokemon. A Fire type._

 _While it's quite friendly toward humans once it's grown used to them, in the wild it must be quite fierce to defend its territory from other pokemons."_

 _"Meowth, the Scratch Cat Pokemon. A Normal type._

 _Meowth withdraws its sharp claws into its paws to slinkily sneak about without making any incriminating footsteps. For some reason, this Pokémon loves shiny coins that glitter with light."_

"Growlithe, and Meowth, huh...?"

The announcer on stage waved his hands, "Battle Begin," to start the battle.

"Growlithe, start with Leer."

Growlithe glares at its opponent and its pupils disappear momentarily before coming back. The adjacent Meowth takes a step back due to fear.

"Don't fret Meowth, Scratch!"

Meowth raises its hands in the air and its claws glow white. Afterwards, it start running towards Growlithe.

Growlithe starts repeatedly running on all four paws. It surrounds the opposing Meowth and forms circles around it, vanishing and reappearing from time to time. The Meowth becomes confused and unable to attack Growlithe.

"Now use Flame Wheel!"

Growlithe stops running. It takes a step back before running at Meowth in full speed. While running, heat and flames start to build up in its body before the pokemon was completely covered in flames.

"Meowth, move away!"

The Meowth attempted to jump, but it was useless. Before it could, Growlithe raised its speed in an instant and headbutted Meowth while being covered in flames.

"Meowwww!"

Meowth is thrown in the air before it falls to the ground on its back. Slowly, it starts to pick itself up.

Meowth opens one of its paws and points it at its opponent. Multiple gold coins that look like its charm appear and shoot at the opponent.

"Use Agility to dodge them, Growlithe."

"Groww!"

Growlithe once again picks up its speed. Its legs become faster and it repeatedly runs at an accelerating speed. Leaping left and right, it dodges a the coins hurled at it.

"Now finish it with another Flame Wheel."

Growlithe continues to run before the familiar flame returns to its body. It headbutts Meowth once again. The latter pokemon is now flung back before landing on the edge of the stage with its eyes in swirls.

"Meowth is unable to battle. Growlithe is the winner. Let's all give a round of applause to the trainers and their pokemons, everyone."

The guests start to clap as Gary and Evelyn recall their pokemons. Gary remains on stage while Evelyn bows politely before returning to her seat.

"Amazing," Aeris was forced to acknowledge his rival. "He's so calm when battling. There wasn't a single wasted movement from his Growlithe and every attack was so precise."

"Pika pika..."

Pikachu understood its trainer's words.

After seeing Gary battle, the both of them realized how far behind they are. The way they are now, it would be near impossible for them to beat Gary.

"Now then, for the special prize, we present to the winning trainer this special item- The King's Rock!"

A waiter carried a big box in his arms before opening it and presenting it to Gary. Everyone was able to see the item. It was a sandy rock that was shaped like a crown.

"A King's Rock, cool."

Gary said before the receiving the item, but not before giving a thanks to the waiter and the announcer.

"And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. With this, we end today's special event that we've arranged for you. I hope everyone liked it."

Judging from the guests' satisfied faces, the announcer could assume that they indeed liked the event.

* * *

It was sometime around midnight and Aeris and Pikachu were on the deck of the ship. They were standing near the railing and enjoying the night sea breeze when Gary called out to them.

"Hey, Ar, you just disappeared."

In Gary's hands, there was a drum stick and he was stuffing his mouth with it.

"Eat or talk. Don't do it together, idiot."

"Ha-ha, you're as serious as ever."

Gary decided to copy what Aeris was doimg and finished his food before resting his body on the railing and enjoying the night breeze.

"But that being said, it's already been 2 months, huh? I'm starting to miss Pallet, already."

"Yeah, I feel you," Aeris agreed with Gary. Despite there being not much in Pallet Town for him, it was still Aeris's home and birth place. And to be honest, he was starting to miss being in his hometown.

After a moment of silence, Gary asked Aeris a peculiar question.

"Hey, Ar, do you miss Mr. and Mrs. Blackwood?"

"I..."

He was talking about his parents. They died in a car crash a few years ago. Since then, Aeris has lived in. There was quite a bit amount left in their will, so he never had to worry about money.

"Of course, you do, they're you're parents, after all," Gary gave the answer himself when Aeris was unable to. "You know, my folks aren't around that much, and I've been with gramps most of the time but... There's nobody in the world I would change for them. And gramps too, I'm always grateful for them."

"What's the meaning of saying all this?" Aeris asked. He wasn't angry, just a bit confused.

"When was the last time you visited them, Ar?"

Aeris avoided eye contact and faced elsewhere. When was the last time he visited his parents' grave? It was two years ago. At first, he would go there once every week, but suddenly, he stopped going there at all and it's been two years since then.

"Look, I know you're angry that they left you so early but... At least, visit their graves next time, alright? Me and gramps always go there at least once every month. You should too, you know..."

"I-I'll try..."

Gary sighed. There was no getting around his friend. He was a quite boy since childhood, and his feelings are a lot more complicated.

"Ha-ha, you don't change, huh...? Anyways, let's head back. The night's still young my friend."

"Look at you talking like an adult."

"Ha-ha. Guess age's catching up to me," Gary joked. Afterwards, the two of them headed back inside.


	12. Chapter 12- No Pain No Gain

Aeris has been training thoroughly for the past few days. At first, he needed information about Vermilion City's Gym Leader.

On inquiry, he found out that the leader's name was Lt. Surge and he specialized in the use of Electric type pokemons. Lt. Surge was a major of the military before he retired after a short career. Since then, he has invested his time in his pokemons and making them strong.

He would be Aeris's toughest challenges till now. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that amongst all the 23 Gym Leaders in Kanto, he is in the top 5, or even top 3.

Beating him would be extremely difficult. Therefore, he needed to make his pokemons stronger first, and then hatch a plan.

To that extent, he has been challenging various trainers and trying new strategies.

"Charmander, use Flamethrower!"

Charmander opened its mouth and fired a ray of flames at the opposite Pidgey which was flying in the sky.

The Pidgey got hit by the attack and its feathers burnt before it fell down unconscious.

"Ow, shucks."

Aeris's opponent was a bird pokemon trainer. They were doing a 2-on-2 pokemon battle, and Aeris had used Charmander as his first pokemon. Amomgst all his pokemons, Charmander was the least experienced one. Therefore, he wanted to sharpen it up. He had decided beforehand that he'd use Charmander in his upcoming Gym battle.

Thankfull, Charmander had a modest nature and it was easy to train.

"Come back, Pidgey, you've done well," the bird trainer said as he recalled his Pidgey before throwing in another pokeball.

"Alright, my ace, it's time foe you to shine."

The pokeball flashed a red beam before a large, long, sharp-beaked bird with red-brown feathers materialized from it.

"Froooo!"

 _"Fearow, the Beak Pokemon. A flying and normal type._ _It has the stamina to fly all day on its broad wings. It fights using its sharp beak. It has the stamina to keep flying all day on its broad wings. It fights by using its sharp beak."_ "It seems like a really strong pokemon," Aeris mutters before warning his pokemon. "Alright, Charmander, keep your heads up, and watch out for its beak."

"Charrr!" The pokemon mellowed and half-turned to nod at its trainer.

"It wouldn't matter because we're going to win this anyway! Fearow, use Drill Peck!"

Fearow flies up before diving back down. Its beak spins like a drill as it dives towards Charmander.

"Use Metal Claw, Charmander!"

"Charrr!"

Charmander crossed its arms and its claws glowed a metallic silver color. It rams its claws into the beak of the Fearow and the two met at a stalemate. But it was only for a short while because the Fearow had overpowered Charmander, and managed to break through before pecking its chest with its drill-like beaks.

"Charrr!" Charmander groaned in pain. The attack was painful and he was heavily injured.

"It's alright Charmander, get up!"

"Char!"

Hearing its trainer's trust in it, Charmander got up and started flashing glares at Fearow.

"Oh-ho. A fiesty pokemon. I like that," the bird trainer exclaimed. "Then Fearow, give em a taste of your Wing Attack."

"Fearooooow!"

Fearow flew up once again and dived back down. Its wings glowed white as it flapped its wings mid-dive.

"Charmander, use Scary Face!"

"Charr!"

Charmander glared at Fearow. From Fearow's perspective, the little pokemon seemed like it grew large and a scary, ghost-like face appeared in its mind.

"Now use Flamethrower!"

The Fearow which had slowed down took the full blast of Charmander's Flamethrower. It fell down with fluttering feathers around it and landed on the surface unconscious.

"Alright!"

"Charmander, Charrrr!"

"Ow, damn! I can't believe I lost!"

* * *

Meanwhile, in Cerulean City's Pokemon Center...

"Alright, I'm all set!"

An excited Stephan exclaimed as he wore his backpack and got ready for his gym battle.

"So, you're all ready, Stephan?"

"You bet! I'm gonna rock this Gym Challenge."

"Whoa. You are one confident fella," Meredith intervened Sylvia and Stephan. "You have to work hard too, Sylvy, your contest is getting closer."

"Yeah, I'm working on that."

For Sylvia, her dream is to be a top Co-Ordinator. The Grand Festival, which is said to be the Co-Ordinating equivalent of the Pokemon League is held annually every year. The winner of the Grand Festival is said to be the top Co-Ordinator of the region.

Like badges, to enter the Grand Festival, you need five exclusive ribbons from contests before you are able to participate in the Grand Festival.

In fact, in Cerulean City, a contest will be held in the aquarium a week from now.

Sylvia was aiming to enter that contest. It was her first time, so she doesn't expect to win it already, but she was hoping to at least go to the semi-finals.

"No worries Meredith, I'm sure she's gonna win, just like I will with my Gym battle!"

To Stephan's response, Meredith showed him weary eyes. "I wonder where you get all this confidence from."

After getting their belongings, the three of them left the Pokemon Center before heading for the Gym, which was located inside the aquarium.

The three of them were guided by a worker to an underground floor before they met the Gym Leader, Misty.

"Hi there. So, which one of you is my challenger?"

"That'd be me," said Stephan before he took a step in front.

"Well, you look like a confident person. Let's hope you'll give me a challenge."

"Just watch. You couldn't ask for more."

"Ha-ha. We'll see about that."

* * *

"This will be a 2-on-2 Pokemon battle between challenger Stephan Goldberg and Gym Leader Misty. The first one to have all of their pokemons knocked out loses. In addition, only the challenger may be allowed to substitute his pokemon. Then, let the battle begin."

"Come on to the field, Staryu."

The star-shaped pokemon reveals itself from its pokeball and stands on the small circular plain.

"I'll take the advantage here! Go, Bulbasaur!"

"Saur!" Stephan's Bulbasaur pops out of its pokeball.

"Why don't you have the first move?" Misty suggests as Stephan smirks in response.

"Bulbasaur, use Razor Leaf."

"Saaurrr!"

Multiple leaves with razor sharp edges are hurled at Staryu.

"Rapid Spin!"

Staryu jumps up and starts spinning rapidly. The Razor Leaf hits it but propels back due to the force of the Rapid Spin.

"If that doesn't work, then use Vine Whip, Bulbasaur!"

"Saauuur!"

Two thin vines appear from each side of Bulbasaur and as if they had a will of their own, they climb the air while going at Staryu.

"Dive underwater, Staryu!"

Staryu jumps and goes into the water.

Stephan clicks his tongue when he realizes that it would be useless to attack at that moment.

Bulbasaur stopped moving and tried to anticipate Staryu's movements. However-

"Rapid Spin, Staryu!"

Suddenly, from behind Bulbasaur, Staryu pops out from the water and spins 360 before ramming into Bulbasaur. The latter pokemon groans in pain before it falls off the edge of the island and sinks into the water.

When its body floated back to the surface its eyes were closed.

"Bulbasaur is unable to battle."

"Ow, damn! I can't believe Bulbasaur lost. It even had an advantage."

Meredith moans. She was sure that Stephan was going to win.

"Sometimes, Mer, things don't go as it is supposed to."

"I kind of get that now..."

"It's a shame Bulbasaur's attacks didn't work. But I'm not a Gym Leader for nothing, you know? I face challengers who have the upper hand every often."

"I see. Bulbasaur, return!"

Stephan recalls his pokemon and throws out another pokeball.

"Go, Butterfree."

"Freeeeee!"

A butterfly pokemon comes out. Its wings had black patterns on it and its body was overall a blue-green color.

"A Butterfree. I've never seen that pokemon before," says Sylvia before she pulls out her Pokedex for inspection.

 _"_ _Butterfree, the Butterfly Pokemon. A Bug and Flying type._

 _Its wings are covered with poisonous dust. If you see one flapping its wings, be careful not to inhale any of the dust."_

"That pokemon is so pretty!" Meredith's eyes sparkled. She has never seen a Butterfree before, thus, her eyes were basically glittering with delight.

"Oh, a Butterfree, huh? Haven't seen one in a while..." Misty confesses before the referee orders the match to continue.

"This time, I'll go first," says Misty before commanding her pokemon. "Staryu, use Water Gun!"

Staryu's gem glowed brightly before a white orb appeared in front of it. Suddenly, the white orb turned into a beam of splashing water that shot out at Butterfree.

"Butterfree, use Gust!"

Butterfree flapped its wings profusely and created a wave of high pressure air currents. The air currents cut through the beam of water into half and negated the attack.

"Now Butterfree, use Stun Spore."

Butterfree flew towards Staryu on its trainer's command and gently flapped its wings. From above Staryu, small yellow pores started to fall on it from Butterfree's wings before the pokemon felt something and froze in place.

"Now, Tackle Butterfree!"

"Freeeee!"

Butterfree dived down and headbutted Staryu. The pokemon writhed in pain but somehow still kept its composure.

"Amazing..." Misty exclaimed. "You managed to paralyze Staryu. If it was any other trainer in any other situation then your idea might have worked. However..."

Misty's eyes turned sharp at her Staryu.

"Staryu dive into the water and use Recover."

Staryu nodded once before diving into the water. The pollen spores on its body begins to wash away due to the water and a white light started to emanate from its body.

After a while, when Staryu jumped back up onto the surface, it was fully fit and seemed like it never took any damage in the first place.

Misty smirked, and flicked her wrist.

"Staryu, Rapid Spin."

That was all it needed for Staryu to start spinning in a circular motion again. The pokemon spun in breathtaking speed before it launched upwards and tackled the Butterfree from below.

The butterfly pokemon was flung up high in the air before it fell back down and landed on the water with a thud. When it rose back up on the surface of water, its eyes were closed and its body seemed listless.

"Butterfree is unable to battle, Staryu wins. This means that the winner of the battle is the Cerulean City Gym Leader, Misty!"

"Staryu, return!"

Misty returned her pokemon, and so did Stephan. However, unlike Misty, Stephan was wholly dejected.

"This is..."

"Unexpected?" Sylvia completes Meredith's statement.

"Uh... Yeah. After that battle with the Pewter City Gym Leader when he needed only Bulbasaur to win, I never thought he would lose, especially when he once again had the type advantage..."

"Well, that's just how battles are. There are no sure victors," Sylvia states. "I've told you that my brother is a trainer, right? I saw him battle a lot of times. He's a very strong trainer, however, no matter how good a person is, there's always someone better than you."

"T-That's deep..." Meredith proclaimed, having been slightly taken back by Sylvia's words.

In response, Sylvia simply smiled back at her, admitting in her conscious that she might have talked a bit too much for Meredith's brain to understand.

"But that's just how the world works. No one's the best in anything so easily. That is why you must work hard and struggle for it. After all, with no pain there is no gain."

* * *

That night, Stephan was left alone for most of the time. Meredith attempted to console him sometimes, but Sylvia advised her to leave Stephan to his own devices for a while.

That is why Stephan is currently sitting on a bench in the park behind the Pokemon Center and solemnly gazing at the moon.

"Sigh... That was a bad loss. I wasn't able to beat even one of her pokemons..."

He came close. There was no doubt. However, Misty was a smart Gym Leader. She had her tactics spot on and cleverly used her environment to her advantage.

In response, Stephan has yet to learn how exactly to use certain factors to his advantage. He has learnt a lesson today of how sheer power or type advantage is not enough to win you a battle.

Therefore, after a long hard thinking, he'd decided that he will train harder and think up of strategies and tactics before challenging Misty for the badge once again.

It would be difficult, and challenging, however he had every confidence in himself that he would be able to do it.

* * *


End file.
